As more Star Wars Legends characters are finding their way back into canon, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before Kyle Katarn joins them. With more new Star Wars comics and books integrating and referencing Legends characters, Katarn’s absence is growing more noticeable. So how and when could this fan-favorite make his return to the canon Star Wars timeline.
As a former Imperial soldier turned Rebel turned Jedi Master, Katarn’s journey is incredibly popular amongst Star Wars fans. Katarn first appeared in the 1995 game Star Wars: Dark Forces before going on to feature in the sequels as well as numerous books and comics. However, when Disney streamlined the Star Wars universe in 2014, Katarn became one of many beloved characters to no longer be considered part of the canon universe.
Disney has been working hard since it purchased the Star Wars IP in 2012 to create new Star Wars content. Each new movie, television series, comic, or book has been carefully adding events, lore, and characters from throughout Star Wars history into this new canon content. Katarn’s own history within the franchise opens up many ways he could successfully be integrated back into canon.
A Young Kyle Katarn Could Meet Star Wars’ Bad Batch
There are a few aspects of Katarn’s story that simply don’t work with the current canon, such as him being the person who stole the plans for the Death Star. However, much of what happened afterward could still work well in the new Star Wars timeline. One of the simplest ways to do this would be to reboot or gently rewrite Katarn’s backstory allowing fans to meet him much earlier than 0 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin), as seen in Dark Forces. Star Wars: The Bad Batch would be a clever way to introduce newer Star Wars fans to a young Kyle Katarn.
It would be a fun Star Wars story to see a plot where Clone Force 99 meet Katarn at the Imperial Academy. He, along with other cadets, could be shown a different side of the Empire than they have experienced. Perhaps meeting the former clone troopers could start the journey for Katarn to begin to question the Empire’s motives. Given that Katarn’s original story had him defecting from the Empire following his discovery that they staged the attack that resulted in his father’s death, having him already suspicious of them makes a lot of sense.
Kyle Katarn Could Rejoin Star Wars Through Luke’s Jedi Temple
Another simple way to reintroduce Katarn into canon would be by using plots already in place. The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian have shown Luke Skywalker and how he is beginning his new Jedi Academy in Star Wars canon. Bringing in Katarn for this would work brilliantly as part of The Mandalorian or as a separate series, game, book, or comic.
Katarn didn’t discover his connection to the Force until after the Battle of Endor, which put him precisely in the right time period to join Luke at his new school. There is a huge gap of 30 years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, with plenty of room to tell many stories about a former Imperial soldier who discovered he could use the Force later in life. Another approach could be to have Katarn appear in some capacity as a grey force user, self-taught as he originally was, who could perhaps train Grogu independently of Luke.
A Star Wars: Dark Forces Reboot Could Reintroduce Kyle Katarn
The final way Disney and Lucasfilm could bring Katarn back into the official canon for Star Wars is to remake the Dark Forces series. The best way for this to fit with the new canon is for the series to start after the Death Star plot and begin with the dark troopers storyline. The dark troopers are officially canon now, having features in both The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian, so showing newer Star Wars fans their origin seems like a smart idea.
Although The Mandalorian season three appears to focus on Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze retaking their shattered homeworld of Mandalore, perhaps a subplot could be introduced later in the series, which sees Katarn concentrate on the dark trooper program and Moff Gideon. This way, his ties to Luke could be reestablished in the new Star Wars canon timeline, along with his role in the elimination of the dark troopers. For this to work, Katarn would not have to be a focal or main character, perhaps even being mentioned only in passing.
Problems That Could Prevent Kyle Katarn’s Star Wars Return
However, there is an argument to be made that Kyle Katarn has no reason to be made canon. Some of his main contributions to the Star Wars universe have been rewritten, and his role replaced by other characters. This first of these is Katarn’s role in stealing the original Death Star plans, which is the player’s first mission in Dark Forces. Jyn Erso now takes this role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, although there is a strong argument that this was a minor part of Katarn’s overall story.
Another more significant part of Katarn’s journey was his becoming a Jedi and his battle with the lure of the dark side of Star Wars’ mystical Force. However, a big part of his fall to the dark side and return to the light is linked with Mara Jade, a character who is even less likely to be made canon than Katarn. It could also be argued that the role of Jedi Knight in exile or a rebel fighter Jedi Knight has been filled by Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels.
Many fans of Katarn still hope that one of the new Stars Wars FPS games announced early in 2022 could make the character canon by using elements of Dark Forces or Jedi Knight plots or even by rebooting one of the Star Wars games series entirely. However, the new Star Wars canon has rendered Kyle Katarn redundant, since his place in the lore has been taken by other characters. The likeliest way that Katarn will rejoin canon would be in a minor capacity, more akin to a guest star in a comic or book. Currently, Katarn’s immediate return to canon seems unlikely but not impossible. However, if he does make his way back into canon along with the other Legends characters already reintroduced, Star Wars fans should prepare themselves for changes to his backstory.
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