40 years after he was first born, the Star Wars villain who never spent his day in the sun is back. Admittedly, this is an obscure character even by die-hard fan standards. It's about as unknown as they come, but that only serves to make the character's return all the more interesting.
Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm recently announced a new book, Star Wars: Jedi Knight. The book features writer Marc Guggenheim (“Arrow”) and artist Madibek Musabekov (“Star Wars”). In terms of the general timeline, it takes place around the earlier “Fall of the Jedi” era The events of “The Phantom Menace”. Aside from the rich period for stories that the prequel era proved to be, the book's intrigue lies in making Atha Prime part of the official canon. Readers would be forgiven for not knowing the name, but this is a villain that traces its roots 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 original trilogy run ended. As toy sales waned, Kenner's idea was to keep the story alive through toys. Atha Prime was meant 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, Mark discovered this deep cut – the antagonist of Kenner's unrealized The Epic Continues toy line. We saw the original design and were instantly sold. What a great character to add to the canon and what a perfect book to be in!”
You can get a glimpse of the character on the cover above. In addition to this toy packaging cap, he also has one that attaches to his large, gold helmet. The character also appears on the cover of Star Wars: The Legacy of Vader, which you can check out below. Most importantly, now Atha Prime Shadows of the Empire villain joins the likes of Prince Khizor as abandoned characters that were later brought into the official canon by Lucasfilm.
Who is Atha Prime in Star Wars?
This isn't the first time Lucasfilm has brought back an old Disney-era character. Or rather famous, Grand Admiral Thrawn made his long-awaited return in Star Wars Rebels. Before becoming Ahsoka's main villain. 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, known only to the most die-hard fans.
So who is Atha Prime? Of course, the Guggenheim will stamp the character for its official presentation. However, Kenner (per Bantha Skull) originally described Ahtha Prime as:
“Long held in exile on the far side of the galaxy, a powerful force has been released by the Emperor's death. It now acts like a plague, asserting control over the shattered remnants of the Empire and re-enslave the newly freed worlds. Atha Prime, master of genetics, ruler of the dark worlds and The architect of the Clone Wars, his army of advanced battle clones is now free and has destroyed rebel outposts along the galactic border.
The mention of cloning is interesting A major factor in Palpatine's resurrection from death in Return of the Jedi. How will Atha Prime affect events in this time of relative peace in the galaxy? We'll have to wait for the book to arrive in March, but the series synopsis explains that it will pit him against Obi-Wan Kenobi's former master, Qui-Gon Jinn.
Star Wars: Jedi Knight takes place before The Phantom Menace and brings back legendary Prequel Trilogy icons like Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and more, as well as fan-favorite characters and all-new Jedi. Each exciting issue that follows a disparate Jedi duo on major missions across the galaxy, with Qui-Gon targeting Jinn for death who is the mysterious new villain and how will this force the Jedi Order to evolve for a new era?
Those interested can pick up the full story when Star Wars: Jedi Knight #1 hits shelves on March 5, 2025.
