By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Back in the early ‘90s, Timothy Zahn’s Star Wars novel Heir to the Empire began a new era for our favorite galaxy far, far away. It kicked off the Star Wars Expanded Universe, a series of interconnected books, comics, and games, all of which contributed to official canon before Disney destroyed the EU altogether. Now, there are persistent rumors that Heir to the Empire will be coming to Disney+, and this might be the only thing that can save the streaming service.
What was the Heir to the Empire novel about, exactly? While Luke Skywalker and his friends work to turn their Rebellion into a New Republic, Grand Admiral Thrawn takes control of the Empire and recruits a Dark Jedi to help restore Imperial glory. And unless Luke can make an alliance with a mysterious woman who wants to kill him, everything he once accomplished with the Rebels may be destroyed.
While the Heir to the Empire novel has been (like the rest of the EU) removed from official Star Wars canon, Disney has already brought Grand Admiral Thrawn back, first in Rebels and now in Ahsoka. With a bit of creativity, Ahsoka’s second season could effectively adopt this acclaimed novel. It would just require Disney+ to shuffle things around and have newer characters replace many of those in the original book.
For example, Luke Skywalker was a major part of Heir to the Empire. While we could still get future appearances from a de-aged Mark Hamill, it would be impractical (especially from a financial perspective) to make Luke the star of a Disney+ adaptation of this book. Therefore, it’s likely the Jedi main character will be played by Ezra Bridger, especially if we get the Heir to the Empire adaptation in Ahsoka’s second season (which now seems likelier than the earlier rumor that we’d be getting a standalone movie).
Grand Admiral Thrawn is already in the picture thanks to Ahsoka’s first season, and he’d presumably do the same thing his book counterpart does: try to rally the Empire and attack the New Republic. In the book, he recruits mad Jedi Joruus C’baoth; in the Disney+ adaptation, Thrawn would likely try to re-recruit Baykan Skoll or Shin Hati, though it may take some clever writing to bring these baddies back from the other side of the galaxy.
Sadly, there’s not really any room for an Heir to the Empire adaptation to introduce fan-favorite Timothy Zahn character Mara Jade. Instead, Sabine would likely fill her role, with Ezra continuing her training the same way Luke eventually continued Mara’s. Luke eventually married Mara in Zahn’s books, so we can expect to see the romantic feelings between Ezra and Sabine continue to grow.
The final major character from the Heir to the Empire book that might be difficult to adapt is Talon Karrde, who is a kind of smuggler boss as smoothly genteel as Jabba the Hutt was casually cruel. He could still be introduced as a new character, of course, and he might even have an extended presence compared to the book to make up for the Disney+ adaptation not having Han Solo. Alternatively, his role could be replaced entirely by Ahsoka, who might use her powers and connections to organize smugglers together in order to fight Thrawn.
The rumors about a Disney+ Heir to the Empire adaptation have morphed over the years; first, it was going to be a standalone film, but now, many fans think it will be a show (either Ahsoka or a new limited series altogether). However the House of Mouse does it, though, it’s vitally important to adapt this book because it is one absolutely beloved by old-school fans. If Disney wants to bring those fans back into the fold while giving subscribers a reason to keep streaming, they’ll make an Heir to the Empire adaptation a priority.
Without this adaptation, though, Disney will continue bleeding fans. And no amount of Force healing may be able to cure the fatal wound they will have dealt Star Wars through years of creative mismanagement.