A live-action Star Wars TV series is on the way!
Lets look back at Underworld, the last attempt to get one made…
This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
Disney chief Bob Iger announceda new trilogy ofStar Warsfilmsanda live-action TV series.
From an outsiders perspective, thisStar WarsTV series seems like Disneys equivalent toStar Trek: Discovery.
A series calledStar Wars: Underworldwas put into development in 2005.
In fact, George Lucas and a team of talented writers even developed 50 scripts for the show!
Its impossible to say at this stage.
Rick McCallum, Lucas Prequel Trilogy and Special Editions collaborator, would executive produce the series with Lucas.
Then they put time and effort into recruiting the right team of writers to bring the project to life.
These names includedBattlestar Galacticas Ronald D. Moore andDoctor Whocontributors Matthew Graham and Chris Chibnall.
Terry Cafolla, Louise Fox, Tony McNamara, Fiona Seres and Stephen Scaia also worked on the show.
FormerDoctor Whoshowrunner Russell T. Davies was also offered a job onUnderworldbut ultimately turned it down.
And George was in the ring with us every day.
And it was a fascinating, amazing experience.
According to Moore, Lucas was very involved in process of developing a story for the TV series.
This would sometimes lead to nerdy debates between Lucas and the rest of the writers.
Are you really going to argue with George Lucas about what Darth Vader would do?
George gets to win all of his arguments.
Those fifty scripts were eventually delivered, although not all were finished products ready to shoot.
Some of them were at first draft, some at third draft.
We had a good sense of the overview of the world, and where it was going.
But we do know a few things about the content ofUnderworld.
Its not about Luke, but its about that period.
Its calledUnderworld, McCallum revealed in that YouTube clip.
Its underneath whats going on.
Presumably, many new characters would have been introduced to populate this eponymous underworld.
Words like darker, grittier and character-based came up in other interviews.
Here there was a chance to explore morally ambiguous characters in perhaps a noir setting.
But what other stories wasUnderworldset to tell?
In terms of specific details and story beats, only a few tidbits have been revealed through the years.
Its clear fromearly concepts inRevenge of the Siththat Lucas really wanted to tell the young Han Solo story.
It would have also involved Han meeting Yoda during one of the movies battles.
The TV series would have almost certainly had to handle Hans story a bit differently.
Hopefully, Disney does it a bit more justice.
Scaia also teased that he pitched Lucas a Boba Fett action scene with his rocket pack.
Logan, of course, would have been ready for this.
TheUnderworldexec replied, I think that could only be answered in the television series.
He saw some interesting stuff.
It was the most mind-blowing thing Id ever experienced.
I cared about the Emperor.
They made the Emperor a sympathetic figure who was wronged by this fucking heartless woman.
Shes this hardcore gangster, and she just totally destroyed him as a person.
I almost cried while reading this.
This is the Emperor, the lightning out of the fingers Emperor.
As it stands, its impossible to tell how all these pieces would have fit together.
Perhaps the more famous characters would have only had cameos or one-episode arcs?
Helping with getting them production ready.
But, of course, that day never came.
Well, in a particularly unexciting end to this story, it seems to have been a money thing.
And partially a TV web link thing.
Firstly, weve got television as we know it about to implode.
Essentially, then, the show was too expensive to produce.
And the project didnt seem to match up with what TV could handle at the time.
The Chances of a Revival?
We havent even sat down with them.
Lees statement instigated a rumor that ABC might dust off theUnderworldscripts and finally get the show made.
But here we are four years later and that hasnt happened.
But we can confirm that people at Disney have looked at theUnderworldscripts.
I know that theyve got the [Underworld] scripts, and that the scripts have been read.
It could beUnderworld, or it could be something else entirely.
Well just have to wait and see…
