Picture this: it’s the mid 1990’s and Star Wars is on the cusp of a big screen revival with the special editions of the original trilogy and Episode 1: The Phantom Menace looming just behind them. From Return of the Jedi, which ended in 1983, Star Wars was in a big screen lull. That isn’t to say that it was dead. No, quite the contrary. It was kept alive through ancillary media such as comics, video games, and novels. However, with those big-screen projects on the horizon, Lucasfilm needed a plan. An event to kick things off. That is where Shadows of the Empire came in. It tapped into all those aforementioned veins of Star Wars fandom that kept the franchise alive.
The event that was Shadows of the Empire was set in the time period in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The Empire has dealt the rebels a solid blow with the loss on Hoth, Luke Skywalker humbled by Darth Vader, and Han Solo being turned into Jabba the Hutt’s favorite wall ornament. Needing some help to rescue Han, Lando recruits Dash Rendar, a jaded, rough-around-the-edges, sarcastic mercenary. Is he copy Han Solo? Maybe, but to me he felt a bit more like a gruff soldier, as opposed to Han who you could tell had a heart of gold. It doesn’t hurt that Dash has his own Corellian freighter, the Outrider.
The new villain introduced is Prince Xizor of the humanoid/reptilian race called the Falleen. He is the leader of Black Sun, a vast criminal syndicate that rivaled the Hutts. His assistant is a female assassin droid named Guri. Using his construction and shipping contracts, he ingratiates himself with the Emperor as Palpatine requires more ships for a secret project. Yes, the Death Star II. This doesn’t make Vader happy as he distrusts Xizor, especially when Vader himself is away from Coruscant on his hunt for Skywalker. He plays a dangerous game balancing all sides to his benefit. Xizor has a secret vendetta against Vader, blaming him for the death of his family. What better revenge than to take Vader’s family? Not only does Luke and company have to chase down Boba Fett, they have to avoid Xizor’s machinations against his life. With these new characters, the novel takes us on a fun adventure of Imperial rivalries, minor politics, especially when the rebels try to reach out to Xizor to help against the Empire. This all culminates with the main cast reaching their starting points for Return of the Jedi.
Steve Perry’s synonymous novel was the root of the project, where the side stories of the comics branched from. Boba Fett had a major role in the comics as he made is way to Jabba with his prize and other bounty hunters scrambled to intercept him for the substantial bounty. It also visualized key events in the novel such as the space battles and infiltrations using key appearances by Rogue Squadron and Vader’s Imperial fleet. It had great art work by Kilian Plunkett, who has since worked on multiple Star Wars projects such as Cartoon Network’s Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. And my goodness, Boba Fett was so cool in that comic, and it was great to see the other hunters like IG-88, Bossk, 4-Lom, and Zuckuss take Fett on for that bounty.
Then came the Nintendo 64 video game, one of the console’s early blockbusters. Players took control of Dash Rendar, blasting through iconic battles—escaping Hoth, swoop bike chases on Tatooine, and a daring assault on Xizor’s skyhook over Coruscant. The game’s cinematic ambition, complete with John Williams-inspired music and cutscenes, brought the multimedia vision to life for a new generation of fans of that time.
As of the writing of this article, Hasbro has released/releasing new figures in their Black Series line, featuring Prince Xizor and Dash Rendar. They look glorious and I’ve already got my Xizor and just waiting on Dash.
Shadows of the Empire was a great way to galvanize fans. I truly think the novel should have been turned into a movie, and for a while, when I had hope, I really wanted them to. It was fun, exciting, had enough intrigue and adventure that kept it feeling like Star Wars. Don’t get me wrong, I love Andor and it’s serious tone, but I would have been just as excited and singing it’s praise if they brought Shadows to the screen, especially if they kept it intact.
I whole-heartedly recommend checking it out, if you haven’t done so already.
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