40 years after his conception, a “Star Wars” villain who never had his day in the sun is making a comeback. Granted, he’s an obscure character, even by die-hard fan standards. This is as unknown as it gets, but that only makes the character’s return even more interesting.
Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm recently announced a new book titled “Star Wars: Jedi Knights.” The book is by writer Marc Guggenheim (“Arrow”) and artist Madibek Musabekov (“Star Wars”). In terms of overall timeline, it takes place around the “Fall of the Jedi” era before the events of “The Phantom Menace”. Aside from the narrative-rich era that is the prequel era, the plot of the book has to do with integrating Atha Prime into the official canon. Readers would be forgiven for not knowing this name, but this is a villain whose roots date back to the mid-1980s, after the release of “Return of the Jedi.”
Atha Prime was supposed to be an action figure released by Kenner to help keep “Star Wars” alive after the end of the original trilogy. As toy sales dried up, Kenner’s idea was to keep the story alive via toys. Atha Prime was supposed to be the big bad of this abandoned storyline. Editor Mark Paniccia explained in a press release how it all happened.
“While developing the series, Marc discovered this deep cut: the antagonist of Kenner’s unrealized toy line “The Epic Continues.” We saw the original design and were immediately sold. What a cool character to bring into the canon and what a perfect book it is in it!”
You can get a glimpse of the character in the cover above. In addition to this toy packaging cover, there is also one that focuses on his large golden helmet. The character also appears on a cover of “Star Wars: Legacy of Vader,” which you can also check out below. Most importantly, Atha Prime now joins evil Prince Xizor from “Shadows of the Empire” as abandoned characters who were later introduced into the official canon by Lucasfilm.
Who is Atha Prime in Star Wars, exactly?
This is far from the first time that Lucasfilm has brought back an old character from the Disney era. Rather famous, Grand Admiral Thrawn makes his long-awaited return in “Star Wars Rebels” before becoming the main villain of “Ahsoka”. The difference here is that Thrawn was part of the very popular “Heir to the Empire” trilogy of novels. The same cannot be said for Atha Prime, who is only known to the most die-hard fans.
So who is Atha Prime, exactly? Naturally, Guggenheim will put his stamp on the character during his official introduction. That said, Kenner (by Bantha Skull) initially described Ahtha Prime as follows:
“A powerful force long held in exile in a remote fringe of the galaxy has been unleashed by the death of the Emperor. It now moves like a plague, asserting control over the shattered remnants of the empire and once again enslaving the newly liberated worlds Atha Prime, master of genetics, ruler of the dark worlds and architect of the Clone Wars, is free again. His advanced army of combat clones has already decimated the rebel outposts. along the galactic border. Its goal is to crush the Rebel Alliance forever and control the Galaxy.
The mention of cloning is interesting because it is a major factor in Palpatine’s resurrection after his death in “Return of the Jedi”. As for how Atha Prime will factor in during this era of relative peace in the galaxy? You’ll have to wait until the book arrives in March, but the series synopsis explains that it will mix it up with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s former master, Qui-Gon Jinn.
“Star Wars: Jedi Knights is set before “The Phantom Menace” and features legendary icons from the Prequel Trilogy like Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and more, including fan-favorite characters and all-new Jedi. Each exciting issue follows a different Jedi duo on pivotal missions across the galaxy, with an overarching threat tying them together. Who is the mysterious new villain targeting Qui-Gon Jinn for death, and how. will he force the Jedi Order to evolve for a new era?
Those interested will be able to experience the full story when “Star Wars: Jedi Knights” #1 hits shelves on March 5, 2025.
