Emilia Clarke Just Made Her Return To Star Wars
Emilia Clarke is back in Star Wars, but not how you'd expect.
This article is more than 2 years old
Solo: A Star Wars Story celebrated its third anniversary last week, and while the movie didn’t do so well at the box office, a lot of fans enjoyed Han Solo’s origin story. While it doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting a Solo sequel any time soon, there are other cool ways to bring the movie’s characters back together and that includes the role played by Emilia Clarke.
That said, Emilia Clarke’s Solo: A Star Wars Story character Qi’ra, has finally made her return to the franchise in a new comic book called Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters. The 34-part series follows Boba Fett, who loses Han Solo’s carbonite-frozen body after The Empire Strikes Back, but finds it in time for Jabba the Hutt to flaunt him as a trophy in Return of the Jedi.
After Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha told us how Boba Fett lost Han Solo, this week’s issue revealed some of the key players who are trying to steal the prized cargo. Qi’ra is one of them and she’s brought Crimson Dawn with her. Thirteen years after Solo: A Star Wars Story, Qi’ra has assumed command of the once-feared criminal empire and is plotting to bring them back to the fore in the Star Wars universe. Emilia Clarke’s character first appears in Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #1 as a mysterious hooded figure receiving Han Solo’s carbonite chamber, but her identity isn’t revealed until later.
So what does Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra want with Han Solo? Here’s a little background if you missed it…
Qi’ra made her Star Wars debut in the Han Solo prequel movie, where she was played by actress Emilia Clarke. In the movie, Qi’ra and Solo were together when she was kidnapped by Imperial Forces. When Han goes on a mission to steal from the Crimson Dawn Syndicate, he learns that Qi’ra is a lieutenant in the crime syndicate. After appearing as his ally early in the story, she kills her boss Vos and makes a surprising call to Darth Maul – the leader of the real Crimson Dawn. Sadly, Qi’ra betrays Han to fight alongside Maul.
In the new comic series, Qi’ra’s reasons for obtaining Han seem to be purely motivated by business rather than sentimentality. Because Han is wanted by the Empire, the Rebel Alliance, and others, Qi’ra decides to host an event to showcase Han as the main attraction, with Jabba and Rana Starros attending as part of the guest list. So it definitely seems like she is working on something big. And it could hint at Emilia Clarke herself returning to the role in a future project.
Announced on February 16th, the miniseries serves as a crossover event for Marvel Comics. The series debuted with War of the Bounty Hunters Alpha 1 on May 5th. Ongoing series Star Wars: Bounty Hunters, Star Wars: Darth Vader, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra and, Star Wars will include issues in the crossover that have also been released. A five-issue miniseries by Charles Soule and Luke Ross is scheduled to hit stores from June 2021 to October 2021.
