SDCC 2017: Thrawn getting his own Star Wars miniseries

Announced at San Diego Comic-Con, the bestselling Timothy Zahn Star Wars novel Thrawn is getting a Marvel comic book adaption.

Ask any Star Wars fan and they will tell you that while they love the fact Disney has breathed new life into the world of Star Wars with new films, books and just about anything else you can think of, it has also had a down side.

That down side being the loss of the Star Wars Extended Universe. Now reduced to “What if?” status, the Extended Universe gave fans a rich, complex history of a galaxy far, far away that reached from the distant past into the far future. Characters such as Mara Jade, Shira Brie, the Solo twins Jaina and Jacen and Galen Marek (aka Starkiller) were all wiped away from continuity with not a passing thought.

One of the ones that hurt the most was the loss of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Created by Timothy Zahn in the novel Star Wars: Heir to the Empire, Thrawn was truly one of the greatest characters to ever see the light of day in the Extended Universe. The Thrawn Trilogy formed the spine of everything that followed and would not have been the success it was without Thrawn being a hit with fans.

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Since Lucasfilm was sold to Disney, a handful of ideas from the Extended Universe have been resurrected in new and different forms. One of the ones that had fans almost giddy with excitement was the return of Thrawn in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Not only that, but Zahn would return to write a new novel about his most popular creation and his reworked history.

The novel, simply titled Thrawn, was a bestseller and is already considered by many to be one of the best of the new Star Wars novels published since the Disney acquisition.

And now Thrawn is going to be adapted into a comic book miniseries by Marvel Comics.

Announced Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con at the Luacasfilm publishing panel, Thrawn will be a five-issue miniseries written by Jody Houser with artwork by Luke Ross and Nolan Woodard. It will adapt Zahn’s novel into comic book form and will hopefully signal more of Thrawn showing up in the rest of Marvel’s Star Wars comics.

Cover to Thrawn #1 (Photo credit: Marvel Comics/Lucasfilm)

Thrawn is just part of an ambitious publishing slate on tap for Marvel and their Star Wars line of comics. A Mace Windu miniseries is on the way as is a title featuring Captain Phasma that will tie into Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

However, this will be Thrawn’s first appearance in the comics and if he proves as popular in comic books as he did in animated form, you can be sure it won;t be his last. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see an older Thrawn go up against Luke Skywalker or have a conversation with Darth Vader?

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Now if we could just convince Disney to bring back Mara Jade, I can die a happy geek.

Thrawn is scheduled to arrive in comic shops and digitally in February, 2018.