Star Wars: A Surprising Character Returns as Part of a Plot to Kill Luke Skywalker

Now this is a deep cut. 1999’s Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace may be best remembered for podracing, Gungans, and midi-chlorians, but the first chapter in George Lucas’ Star Wars prequels trilogy also introduced characters who would go on to appear in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, which told the origin story of a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich). The movie, set between the events of Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV – A New Hope, revealed that former Sith apprentice turned underworld crime lord Darth Maul (Ray Park and Sam Witwer) was behind Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), the figurehead for the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn.

Just as Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra returned years later in Marvel’s comic book Crimson Trilogy, another Solo character has resurfaced in Marvel’s latest Star Wars trilogy bridging the gap between Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and Episode VII – The Force Awakens. And it’s a character who originally appeared as a cameo in The Phantom Menace.

Wednesday’s Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #3, by Alex Segura and Stefano Raffaele, reintroduces Warwick Davis’ Weazel. The character witnessed the podrace won by a young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) in Phantom Menace and, years later, returned as a member of the rebel pirate gang the Cloud-Riders under Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) in Solo.

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“When we saw him in The Phantom Menace, I think he was going off the rails a little — he was gambling and getting in the wrong crowd,” Warwick said of the Hutt-affiliated Weazel in a 2018 interview. “I like to think that he maybe, perhaps, started to think, ‘Well, I need to do something good with my life.’ And then started flying with a cause, and that’s when he joined Enfys Nest and got involved in that group.”

“There’s a bit in the middle there that I haven’t figured out yet,” the Ewok and Willow actor added, “there’s definitely a transition [that] took place, but what the catalyst was for that, I don’t know.”

While that may be a good story for another time — as is what happened to Weazel during the events of the original Star Wars trilogy — Republic Under Siege revealed that Weazel was still operating on the fringes of the underworld in the aftermath of the Rebel Alliance’s victory over the Empire in Return of the Jedi.

Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku Trilogy

The four-issue The Battle of Jakku – Insurgency Rising, set in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Endor and the deaths of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, saw Palpatine loyalist Admiral Gallius Rax enact the Emperor’s Contingency plan to destroy the Empire in the event of his defeat. Meanwhile, the Imperial Grand Moff Ubrik Adelhard launched an Iron Blockade around the Anoat Sector to cordon off a section of the galaxy and resume the Empire’s fight against the Rebels and the nascent New Republic.

While Leia Organa and Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma’s forces went to war with two factions of Imperial remnants, the Jedi Luke Skywalker tracked down Jeli relics and faced a new Inquisitor and the dark side cult the Acolytes of the Beyond.

This false Inquisitor turned out to be the witch Reyna Oskure, who has allied herself and the Acolytes with Governor Adelhard to forge their own plans for the scattered remains of Palpatine’s Empire. He then aligned himself with Zeva Bliss, leader of the Spice Runners of Kijimi (and the mother of Keri Russell’s Zorii Bliss in The Rise of Skywalker), as part of his plot to reclaim the galaxy.

While Skywalker and the Rebel pilot Rynn Zenat encountered Doctor Aphra on a mission to protect an ancient Jedi Compendium of Jedi Master Ky Narec on the Outer Rim planet of Lehanis, Counselor Rax readied his Imperials to enact the Emperor’s final wishes and set them on the course for the Battle of Jakku.

After Aphra determined that the Compendium was a fake meant to draw Skywalker to the galaxy’s Outer Rim, Adelhard recruited the Arcona bounty hunter Lan-Drus (who failed to assassinate Rebel leader Mon Mothma) and a Trandoshan bounty hunter to eliminate his enemies. On Kijimi, the Spice Runner Tomasso presented Bliss with an informant: Weazel.

Weazel passed along intel that Governor Adelhard is playing both sides of this civil war, using the Force-witch Oskure and the Acolytes while dabbling in the underworld. Weazel then revealed that Adelhard enlisted two of the galaxy’s deadliest bounty hunters with one one directive: Kill Luke Skywalker. Bliss informed Weazel that the Spice Runners own the contract on Skywalker’s life and had him dismissed.

As it turns out, Weazel was in contact with the New Republic spymaster Calder Behrens, and Tomasso was unaware the Spice Runners had a hit on a Jedi. Tomasso then told Weazel to alert Behrens to the plot to assassinate Skywalker and that he knew who could protect the target: the cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance.

While Luke and Leia teamed up to fend off an attack by the Trandoshan on Chandrila, Lan-Drus killed Behrens on Krassinique after assassinating would-be senator Galward Paronis. Behrens’ final act was to pass along important intel to Mothma…

The story continues when Star Wars: Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #4 goes on sale Dec. 11 from Marvel Comics. The trilogy, spanning 12 issues in total, will conclude with the four-issue Star Wars: Battle of Jakku – Last Stand in 2025.