Back from the dead… it seems to be a recurring theme with Star Wars universe. We all thought Maul died in Phantom Menace, but there he was again in The Clone Wars. We thought Palpatine was killed by Vader in Return of the Jedi, but there he was wreaking havoc for the New Republic. How could we not assume Boba Fett died in Return of the Jedi, but then he shows up in comics and then the Mandalorian series. Then we all thought we saw the last of Thrawn in Rebels, but it sounds like we will see him again in the new Ahsoka series. The real question is why and even more important, will we see others coming back to life?
There are so many consistent aspects to Star Wars that people love. We grew up seeing this mythic force, wheeled by these type of space wizards going around saving the universe with these laser swords. I mean how amazing is that see as a kid. The original story line is rich with context from not only good and evil but a relationship of a father and son reconciling. The downside were these massive gaps between movies. As adults we crave those story arcs. We ask questions, wanting to understand where this individual came from, how did they get to this point in their lives, and what have they been doing. If you’re reading this my guess is you possibly read many of the books and comics that have been produced over the decades which has developed many of those story arcs. I know there are many opinions and strong feelings on the Disney Canon versus the Legends which we will save for another post in the future. Either way they have started working at filling in many of those gaps, such as the Star Wars Comic series by Jason Aaron which tells the story between the movies A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. They are also in the process of producing the comic series between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi by Charles Soule. Either way you can see there is a commitment to building these stories arcs for not just in the books and comics but in movies and streaming series. We are seeing that with the Ahsoka Series, which in my opinion Ahsoka has one of the best overall story arcs of any character so far (Comment Below and Prove me Wrong).
I believe the answer to the question is really based on what the fans are wanting to see. Boba Fett and Maul’s return were especially driven by how much fans loved them and how sad they were not to know more of their story. There are many characters in Star Wars that fans would love to see more of, even ones we have seen die. Who would you like to see come back? Tell me in the comments…