A lot of Star Wars these days is about finding something weird and old from the vast history of its transmedia empire and bringing it back from the shadows and into the light. These days with so much of the Expanded Universe already pillaged for re-canonization, it takes a lot to surprise a fan of the galaxy far, far away with a new return… but Marvel’s latest might have done it.
Announced at Lucasfilm’s publishing panel at New York Comic Con, writer Marc Guggenheim is returning to Marvel’s Star Wars line with Jedi Knights, a new ongoing series that will follow the heroes of the Jedi Order before the events of The Phantom Menace. Pitched in the style of Marvel’s famous Two In One anthology series, Jedi Knights will pair characters new and old from across the Order for new adventures. One of these will apparently feature the canonical debut of a truly deep cut in a story, appropriately titled “The Deepest Cut.”
That story, Guggenheim announced to a room of Star Wars fans flummoxed into silence, will feature the first appearance in current Star Wars continuity of Atha Prime. Prime was created by Star Wars toymaker Kenner in 1986 in an attempt to keep the successful Star Wars toyline going after the culmination of the original trilogy. Kenner pitched a project called “The Epic Continues,” an all-new story set after Return of the Jedi that would’ve brought new factions, creatures, and characters (all in need, of course, of new toys) to the galaxy far, far away. Chief among them was the primary villain of “The Epic Continues,” Atha Prime: an ancient evil clad in red robes and shiny metallic body armor that was awoken on the edge of the galaxy in the wake of Emperor Palpatine’s death.
Prime, inspired by original concept art from Return of the Jedi for the Emperor’s Royal Guard, would’ve been revealed as the architect of the then-undetailed Clone Wars, and launched an assault on the galaxy that threatened both the remnants of the Empire and the ascendant Rebel Alliance alike. Although Prime himself never made the leap into any form of continuity when “The Epic Continues” was scrapped, elements of the character lived on. Prime’s design influenced the design of Dark Empire‘s Imperial Sentinels, and Prime’s backstory was eventually repurposed for the Separatist genetic terrorist Zeta Magnus in the Expanded Universe, a Clone Wars villain who created the virus that would lead to the infamous disappearance of the legendary Katana Fleet—a major lore point in the early days of the EU.
Just how Atha Prime will leap into current Star Wars continuity remains to be seen, but it’s always nice to be surprised with just how deep the galaxy far, far away will dig to find something to bring back. We’ll bring you more on Marvel’s plans for Star Wars: Jedi Knights as and when we learn them.
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