By Nermeen Nabil Khear 
Modern Star Wars often goes deep into the Lucasfilm archives for inspiration. It’s not unusual these days to see a character from the old Expanded Universe become canon. But this latest deep cut to become official Star Wars canon is truly DEEP. That’s because it’s from an entire ’80s Kenner toyline and cartoon show that never got off the ground. Via Slashfilm, we’ve learned that Marvel Comics has announced a new series titled Star Wars: Jedi Knights, from writer Marc Guggenheim and artist Madibek Musabekov. One of the main villains in this series, set right before The Phantom Menace, is Atha Prime. He originated from a nearly-forgotten proposal Kenner Toys made to Lucasfilm way back in 1986. Marvel now has Atha Prime front and center on several of their covers for Star Wars: Jedi Knights‘ first issue, as well as Legacy of Vader, which you can see down below:
Here’s what Marvel Comics’ Star Wars editor Mark Paniccia had to say about this new addition to the canon:
While developing the series, Marc discovered this deep cut—the antagonist from Kenner’s unrealized The Epic Continues toy line. We saw the original design and were immediately sold. What a cool character to bring into canon and what a perfect book to do it in!
Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, Kenner Toys ruled toy store shelves with their Star Wars line. To say Star Wars toys revolutionized the action figure business is something of an understatement. But the toys were based on the movies and, after Return of the Jedi, there were no new movies on the horizon. With sales dipping, Kenner came to Lucasfilm with a proposal. They pitched them a concept of a whole new line of toys and an accompanying animated series, called Star Wars: The Epic Continues. The story would have picked up right after Episode VI with Luke and Han remaining as main characters. But with no Darth Vader, the new primary villain would be Atha Prime, “Genetics Master, and architect of the Clone Wars, who is free again.” The Pyramid Peak YouTube channel has a deep dive on The Epic Continues, which you can watch below:
At the time, no one outside of George Lucas himself even knew what the Clone Wars were even all about. All we knew from A New Hope was that the Jedi Knights fought in them, and they took place “years ago.” So Kenner took it upon themselves to create a history for the Clone Wars and designed the first Clone Troopers. In Kenner’s pitch, the Jedi fought against the clones, not alongside them. This pitch also saw a neo-Empire run by Grand Moff Tarkin, who somehow survived the destruction of the first Death Star. (And here you thought Palpatine’s resurrection was far-fetched.)
Sadly, Lucasfilm did not want to commit to any Star Wars continuation at the time, so the proposal went nowhere. Kenner wouldn’t bring back Star Wars toys to shelves until the mid-90s, with the Power of the Force line. By that time, thanks to new novels and comics, Star Wars was back in the spotlight. Eventually, images of The Saga Continues concept art would leak out. It was then that fans would learn about Atha Prime, whom we admit is a pretty cool villain design. If anything, this shows that even the most obscure Star Wars character can make a comeback. If you have a long-lost favorite no one remembers, take heart. They’ll probably make their way back into canon at some point. In the meantime, Star Wars: Jedi Knights hits comic shops and digital on March 5.
The post Marvel’s New STAR WARS Series Canonizes a Once-Rejected ’80s Action Figure appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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