'Star Wars' Favorite Admiral Ackbar Has A Son – Could He Show Up In The Movies?

Though there have been a few things that certain Star Wars fans have taken issue with in The Last Jedi, one that was a punch to the gut of many was the sudden death of Admiral Ackbar. The Resistance officer was blown into space during the First Order's attack on our heroes' base on D'Qar. In their attempt to escape in the ship known as the Raddus, they jumped to hyperspace, only to be tracked down and blasted to smithereens, leaving only General Leia Organa as the sole survivor, thanks to the Force.

However, a new Star Wars comic has revealed that a piece of Admiral Ackbar lives in on the form of his son, Aftab Ackbar, son of Gial. And there's a chance we might see this character end up appearing in The Rise of Skywalker.

Admiral Ackbar's death was frustrating to fans simply because he wasn't given a funeral, a salute or even a moment of mourning for a split second. But such is life and death in a time of war, and he did eventually get a better send-off in the comics. Thankfully, the new Star Wars: Allegiance #2 (thanks to io9 for bringing this to our attention) from the Journey to the Rise of Skywalker slate of publications hitting shelves before the movie arrives gives us another moment to pay respect to Admiral Ackbar. Here's a preview page from the comic (via StarWars.com) introducing us to Aftar Ackbar:

It appears the rest of the Mon Calamari are not too pleased when General Leia Organa and Resistance heroes like Rey, Chewbacca and Rose Tico show up, and it's mostly because they're held responsible for the death of Admiral Ackbar. But Aftab is quick to reel in the citizens of Mon Cala and welcomes Leia with open arms. Leia says she's there to honor Aftab's father, but she also needs the help of Mon Cala in their continued fight against the First Order.

Interestingly enough, it sounds like they might get help in the form of another Ackbar. io9 also reminded us of some cardboard cutouts released for Triple Force Friday last week gave us our first look at certain characters from The Rise of Skywalker. One of those cutouts included a character who was merely referred to as Mon Calamari General. But if you look at the cutout, he looks eerily similar to the illustration of Aftab Ackbar from the comics:

Not all Mon Calamari look exactly like Admiral Ackbar. We've seen a couple different variations on the species, so the fact that this Mon Calamari General looks so similar to Aftab in the comics could very well mean that this character will appear in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

But what we'll have to wait for is whether or not the character actually gets referred to by name or even has a role beyond just lingering in the background of scenes. It would be nice if there was some kind of recognition of Ackbar in the movie, but since this has to wrap up this new trilogy and the Skywalker saga as a whole, there's only so much time that can be spent on extraneous characters who only came to be loved thanks to an internet meme.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives on December 20, 2019.