Lucasfilm directly set up Emilia Clarke's return to Star Wars as Qi'ra in a recently released Disney+ show, while also teasing that one of the most mysterious plotlines in the galaxy far, far away could finally be explored on-screen. Clarke's Qi'ra was introduced in Solo: A Star Wars Story as the love interest for Alden Ehrenreich's Han Solo. Despite the film receiving a lot of criticism from both critics and fans, many agreed that Clarke gave a good performance in the film, and that her character, Qi'ra, was undoubtedly one of the most interesting aspects of the project, and that her story should have continued in a film or TV series.
Disney and Lucasfilm recently released the animated Disney+ series titled Maul - Shadow Lord in 2026. The show is set in the Rise of the Empire era, directly after the events of Revenge of the Sith, and partially focuses on Maul building his criminal enterprise, the Shadow Collective, back up again, after it fell apart near the end of the Clone Wars. However, the first season also included Crimson Dawn and Dryden Vos, an organization and a character who are very closely tied to Qi'ra.
The end of Shadow Lord Season 1 saw Dryden Vos rescue Maul and some of his associates from the clutches of Darth Vader and the Empire on Janix. This interaction between Maul and Vos set up that Crimson Dawn would be heavily involved in Season 2 of the Disney+ series, which is where Qi'ra comes in.
For reference, it was established in Solo that after Qi'ra was sold into slavery by Lady Proxima, she eventually fell into the hands of Dryden Vos as a slave, but eventually proved herself and became an official member of Crimson Dawn, the criminal empire that Vos was the public face of.
Now, Dryden Vos wasn't the real leader of Crimson Dawn in Solo. The entire movie made it seem as though he was, and everyone in the galaxy thought he was the head of the snake, but there was a plot twist at the end of Solo that revealed Maul was the true leader of the organization. Essentially, after Dryden Vos was killed, Qi'ra allowed Han, Chewbacca, and a couple of other characters to leave, and then contacted Maul, telling him of Vos' death.
Since Maul was established as the real leader of Crimson Dawn, it seems clear that Shadow Lord Season 2 will spend a lot of time building the relationship between Maul and Dryden Vos, and giving fans an inside look at how Maul became their leader, while still allowing Vos to be the face of the organization publicly.
In Star Wars canon, Qi'ra spent quite a bit of time with Dryden Vos through the years, and then at the end of Solo, Maul knew her by name and summoned her to Dathomir, his home world. He also told her that they would be "working much more closely" in the near future. So, it is clear that there was some kind of relationship between Qi'ra and Maul prior to the events of Solo.
Maul - Shadow Lord Season 2 has already been confirmed by Disney and Lucasfilm, but no one has revealed yet when it will take place on the Star Wars timeline. However, there are still quite a few years between the events of Season 1 and the Solo film, and a lot obviously happens between those two projects, so they will likely be fleshed out in the animated series.
Dryden Vos isn't going to just go away, especially since he played a fairly substantial role in the Season 1 finale. Most likely, Season 2 will explore Maul and Dryden coming up with a plan for how to run Crimson Dawn. If that is the case, Qi'ra should absolutely be included in the show.
As mentioned, it is heavily implied in Solo that Qi'ra was quite close to Vos and that the two may have even had some kind of physical relationship at some point. To give credibility to those moments in Solo, it would only make sense for Qi'ra to be included in Maul - Shadow Lord so that viewers could witness them firsthand.
It is also important that Qi'ra's acquaintance with Maul be featured in some type of project since she began working directly under Maul after Dryden's death. Once again, it would only make sense for all of that to occur in Shadow Lord Season 2.
It is possible that Disney and Lucasfilm could continue Maul - Shadow Lord for more installments past Season 2. The show did extremely well on Disney+ during the release of Season 1, and it is still tied with Andor and The Empire Strikes Back as the highest-rated Star Wars project of all time on IMDb, so the fans clearly loved it and want more.
If Season 2 performs well, Disney and Lucasfilm would likely see no reason not to renew Shadow Lord for at least a third season. They don't need to drag the show out to where the story gets stretched too thin, but if there is enough material and the script is beyond great, Shadow Lord could last for multiple seasons.
If that were to happen, Lucasfilm may not want to bring Qi'ra back until a later installment. However, it is also possible that she could briefly show up in Season 2, but then have a bit more substantial role in Season 3 as she rises up the ranks of Crimson Dawn.
Would Emilia Clarke Reprise Her Role as Qi'ra in Maul - Shadow Lord?
It seems more like the question is when Qi'ra will return rather than if she will. Lucasfilm already included the character in dozens and dozens of comic book issues to try to flesh out her story, so there is clearly interest in bringing her back from Lucasfilm and from the fans' perspective.
Now, most would likely love for Emilia Clarke to come back and reprise her role, even if it was just in a voice role. Obviously, no one knows if she would come back or not, as some actors from live-action have also voiced their characters in animation, and some haven't.
Most likely, it would all boil down to Clarke's schedule and how much Lucasfilm would be willing to pay her. However, because Shadow Lord did so well on Disney+ and has been so loved by fans, that could also sweeten the pot for Clarke and make her want to be a part of something special. The actress has said in the past that she wants to return to Star Wars more than any other world she has ever been a part of, but it is unclear if that is still the case for her.
Ultimately, Qi'ra has not been confirmed for Maul - Shadow Lord Season 2, but it seems as though the creative team behind the show knows what they are doing and won't leave any stone unturned when it comes to showcasing Maul's story between Revenge of the Sith and Solo. Solo established that Qi'ra was in league with Maul and that the two were very aware of each other, so their getting to know one another has got to happen somewhere, and Shadow Lord Season 2 is the best place.
