The Deadliest Bounty Hunter In 'Star Wars' Is Canon Again
Star Wars has had a plethora of memorable bounty hunters. The first one we ever saw in the series was Greedo. And while he was not very effective, he has retroactively become more memorable thanks to the "Greedo Shot First" controversy in 1997, and more recently thanks to the "Maclunkey!" incident in 2019. Following his appearance, the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special had a tolerable animated segment that introduced a new bounty hunter who would be very popular for decades to come: Boba Fett. This bounty hunter's live-action debut ended up being in the second film, The Empire Strikes Back, where we saw a lineup of other bounty hunters who do nothing in the film but have been given their own stories over the years. A couple of decades later, Attack of the Clones gave us Boba Fett's father, Jango Fett. But of course, that was just the beginning of Clone Wars era bounty hunters.
Among the formidable foes for the Jedi developed for the Clone Wars multimedia project between the releases of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith was Durge, a 2,000-year-old Gen'Dai who has killed many Mandalorians. Previously, Durge was part of "C-canon" in the tiered canon system. When the tiered system was done away with in 2014, Durge became Legends. However, as was the case with such characters as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Beilert Valance, Durge is being brought into the current canon. He will be appearing in new comics books, specifically Doctor Aphra #11 as part of the "crossover event" titled War of the Bounty Hunters.
It is very fitting Durge's first canonical appearance will be in a comic book, as that is the medium in which he made his first appearance in the Expanded Universe. Durge was in the Star Wars: Republic comic series' two-parter "The New Face of War". Released in March and April 2003, this story introduced Durge alongside Asajj Ventress. The bounty hunter and the assassin fight for the Separatists as they encounter Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on one of the moons of Naboo.
Months later, in November 2003, both villains would appear in the Clone Wars microseries (after Durge faces Boba Fett in a junior novel titled Boba Fett: Hunted). In the microseries, Durge faces off against Obi-Wan Kenobi, wielding a lance on a swoop bike. Kenobi slices Durge, but his nerves reattach, and he comes back seemingly stronger. However, after he swallows Obi-Wan, the Jedi uses the Force to blow up the bounty hunter from the inside, the Gen'Dai's juices sliding away. The original plan was for a regenerated Durge to fight Obi-Wan and Anakin in chapter 20 of the microseries (released February 2004). However, George Lucas wanted General Grievous to be introduced, and the rest was history. Grievous became the new antagonistic face of the Clone Wars. A later Clone Wars Adventures story would even have Grievous defeating Durge and Ventress in a match as he perceives himself as the future.
The seemingly invincible Durge later meets his fate in the 2005 Obsession comic miniseries, and gets killed by Anakin Skywalker. Given that a star is what kills him, it is safe to say that this event does not happen in canon. The comic series already did not fit anyway, given how differently the fates of Asajj Ventress and Adi Gallia play out in the canonical 3D-animated series The Clone Wars. Speaking of which, Durge almost became canon in the early days of The Clone Wars. He was almost reimagined as a human character with the armor. However, this idea was scrapped in favor of introducing Cad Bane, who became a fan favorite bounty hunter. In hindsight, abandoning the reimagined Durge probably means that fan outcry over changes to his species was averted. Now, we can get a canonical Durge who is closer to what we have come to know.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #11 goes on sale in June 2021.