Star Wars Announces Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra Origin Story

A new book announcement could be the first hint at Star Wars exploring the origin story of Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra. 

Clarke's Solo: A Star Wars Story character has remained fairly quiet since her 2018 debut. 

The character has made a number of comic appearances (the latest of which was described as Qi'ra's "endgame") after taking on a leadership role in the criminal Crimson Dawn organization. And an on-screen future for Clarke's hero has even been teased. 

For now, at least, it looks like Qi'ra fans are going back in time before they go forward. 

Qi'ra's New Star Wars Book

A new Star Wars book has been unveiled, focusing on Emilia Clarke's Solo: A Star Wars Story character, Qi'ra. 

The young adult (YA) novel is titled Crimson Climb and will be written by longtime Star Wars author E.K. Johnston. 

Johnston tweeted about the title, showing off the cover art for the book and saying, "I got to write you another Star Wars book, and this time we're going...crimson."

Seeing as this is a YA novel and given the title, it is likely Crimson Climb will follow Clarke's character on her climb up the ranks of Crimson Dawn between the prologue of Solo and when audiences see her at the closing of that same film. 

When Will Fans See Qi'ra Next?

Lucasfilm finally going back and exploring Emelia Clarke's Solo character once again is sure to be welcomed. Qi'ra's ascent in the Star Wars criminal underworld will be an exciting one for readers to follow along with. 

While it is not a full-blown big-screen experience or Disney+ streaming series, an E.K. Johnston-written novel is pretty close. Johnston has become one of the prestige writers of the Star Wars literary world, having already tackled beloved characters like Ahsoka. 

Plus, this will fill in a valuable blank, taking place on another side of the galaxy at the same time as Han and Chewbacca's adventure in Solo.

But could this new novel be the first step toward a full-blown comeback for the character?

Emilia Clarke, and in turn Qi'ra, was one of the best parts of the oft-maligned Solo, so perhaps Lucasfilm is interested in bringing the actress back for more action, and this is just the appetizer to a full-blown main course somewhere down the line. 

With Donald Glover's Lando series still supposedly on the books, perhaps Clarke's sci-fi crime boss would be the perfect villain to go up against Glover's debonaire hero. 

For now, though, fans will have to wait for Crimson Climb, as the novel looks to explore Qi'ra for the first time in a long while.