Brand-new art for Star Wars Celebration 2025 beautifully captures many of the characters fromStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, but the absence ofPadmé Amidaladisappointingly perpetuates a frustratingStar Warsproblem. Padmé is one ofStar Wars’best characters, and her importance inStar Warsmovies and TV showshas only become increasingly clear. Yet, there’s plenty to critique about the handling of her character, includinghow Padmé diedand the removal of some of her key scenes inRevenge of the Sith.
NewRevenge of the Sithart created by artist Jonathan Beistline for Star Wars Celebration 2025, while stunning, unfortunately continues the problematic trend of Padmé erasure inStar Wars.The art, which focuses primarily on the Jedi and Sith inRevenge of the Sith,doesn’t include Padmé at all.
Audiences were quick to catch Padmé’s absence in the art, and it didn’t take long for dissatisfaction with this choice to spread across social media.
Clearly, there’s plenty of frustration over this choice, andwhile it’s disappointing to see Padmé’s absence from the art, it also gets at a much larger issue with Padmé’s character inStar Wars.
Padmé’s Erasure Mirrors Lucas' Biggest RotS Mistakes
Padmé’s Story Took A Major Hit In Revenge Of The Sith
Unfortunately,Padmé’s character has been mishandled for quite some time now, perhaps most obviously inRevenge of the Sith.TheRevenge of the Sithdeleted scenes, which some mentioned in their posts about this art on social media, revealed that Padmé had a major hand in planting the very first seeds of the Rebellion. These scenes were cut to streamline the story, though, which ended up being a massive disservice to Padmé.
Forget The Force, The Jedi Council’s Greatest Failure Was Not Listening To Padme
Although the Jedi Order made many mistakes in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, the worst decision they made was not listening to Padme’s wisdom.
Without these scenes, Padmé went from someone who refused to surrender even in the face of impossible odds—consistent with her character inStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom MenaceandStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones—to someone who lost hope when she realized what had happened to Anakin. That choice has never sat right with me (there were so many other ways to kill her that would have reflected her bravery), and this art just confirms what I’ve long suspected.Padmé doesn’t get the recognition she deserves.
Natalie Portman Is The One Prequel Star Who Hasn’t Been Brought Back By Disney
Audiences Have Long Hoped To See Her Return, But That Hasn’t Happened Yet
Compounding this issue is the fact that Natalie Portman is the one prequel trilogy star who hasn’t returned to theStar Warsscreen. Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor both returned forObi-Wan Kenobi, and Christensen was back again inAhsoka. It also seems like both actors will be back again before long.
While, yes, Padmé died inRevenge of the Sithand can’t become a Force ghost, there are countless ways to bring her back. After all,Star Warshas never struggled to get creative when it comes to ‘dead’ characters (or actually dead characters). At the end of the day, I’m just disappointed to see that, in a movie that already lacks female characters so terribly, Padmé was left out. ThisStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithart really is stunning, but the absence ofPadmé Amidaladoesn’t feel like the right call.
