Now that Andor has completed its two-season run to common acclaim, followers have been excited about what’s subsequent for Star Wars TV exhibits. Granted, we have a lot to look ahead to, corresponding to an upcoming Ahsoka season 2, and a number of other Star Wars motion pictures in improvement, however there’s nonetheless hope — nevertheless small — that Disney seems to a mission shelved a very long time in the past, from an idea far, distant.
The Lucasfilm of 2005 was a distinct beast in comparison with the place we at the moment are in 2025. Quickly after the debut of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, creator George Lucas introduced at an occasion that the franchise’s first live-action foray into TV could be Underworld. Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, this sequence was meant to delve right into a Star Wars world that did not revolve across the Skywalkers. As a substitute, it might have been based mostly within the cityscape of Coruscant, initially specializing in the felony gangs, earlier than delving into untold tales of identified characters.
Lucasfilm was purchased by the Walt Disney Firm in 2012, and with it, every thing to do with Star Wars was now in another person’s arms. This additionally meant that some modifications had been made, corresponding to Underworld being cancelled, together with its online game adaptation, Star Wars: 1313. However what was Star Wars Underworld? Who was concerned, and the way far into manufacturing did it get?
What was Star Wars Underworld?
In 2005, it seemed like the top of the street for Star Wars, with no extra motion pictures or live-action exhibits on the horizon. It felt like Lucas and his firm needed to maneuver on, with the group starting to work on the then-unannounced fourth Indiana Jones film. So it was a shock when Underworld was introduced in 2005, alongside The Clone Wars. Allegedly set between Episode III and IV, with some occasional flashback episodes, the sequence would delve into elements of the Star Wars universe that hadn’t been explored earlier than, corresponding to totally different felony factions working throughout Coruscant. Underworld could be serialized episodes, with roughly twenty of them to a season, and could be filled with particular results, because the prequels had been.
Rick McCallum, a producer at Lucasfilm till his retirement in 2012, quickly after Disney purchased it, appeared on a podcast earlier this yr referred to as Younger Indy Chroniclers. On this three-part interview present, McCallum recalled how far Underworld got here in improvement. “There was a interval the place individuals thought we weren’t doing something. And we spent 5 years doing over 60 scripts, some reaching third drafts, with essentially the most fantastic writers on the earth on them,” McCallum revealed.
“These tales had been darkish. However they had been horny, they had been violent, they made you suppose, they usually had been simply completely fantastic.”
In an interview with author Matthew Graham at Den of Geek, he reveals that from 2007, for a number of years, he and Chris Chibnall (Physician Who, Broadchurch) would go to Skywalker Ranch and work on a number of scripts for Underworld. Ronald D. Moore, identified for writing Star Trek and the Battlestar Galactica reboot, was additionally introduced on quickly after. Moore spoke about this in actor Katee Sackhoff’s podcast earlier this yr, explaining what occurred when he met Lucas to speak about Underworld round 2009.
As much as 60 scripts had been written — sufficient for 4 seasons. Rumored plots will sound eerily acquainted to anybody who’s watched the final ten years of Star Wars TV exhibits: the early years of the Empire below Emperor Palpatine, how Han Solo and Lando Calrissian met, a Boba Fett look, Obi-Wan Kenobi showing in Coruscant earlier than a last duel with Maul, and extra. As late as January 2012, McCallum and Lucas had been each speaking about Underworld, saying that “it was on the shelf” for now. However every thing was about to alter.
The autumn of Underworld
As 2012 was wrapping up, two insurmountable partitions arose to dam Underworld: Cash and Disney. As McCallum mentioned within the podcast, the episodes had been just too costly to make on the time. “The issue was that every episode was greater than the movies. So the bottom I might get it right down to with every episode that existed then was $40 million an episode.”
So, Underworld was swept below the rug, not less than till the episodes may very well be made at a less expensive charge. In the meantime, Lucas was busy writing his personal tackle Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, earlier than finally deciding handy off his empire to the Home of Mouse. Though Disney might have made Underworld, in addition to Lucas’ imaginative and prescient of the Sequel Trilogy, time has proven us the corporate took a distinct path with the franchise.
Years later, the solely surviving check footage of Underworld was uncovered, showcasing 5 minutes of a scene set in Coruscant, as a means of attempting out the visible results for a way they may work in Underworld. It is nothing a lot and would not add something to the general franchise, however it’s a singular look into what might have been.
May Underworld return, in some way?
As Luke Skywalker mentioned in Episode VIII: The Final Jedi: ‘Nobody’s ever actually gone.” You may apply that to cancelled tasks like Underworld, too. McCallum talked about in the identical podcast that it might have taken Star Wars onto a model new path. “It could have blown up the entire Star Wars universe, and Disney would have undoubtedly by no means supplied George to purchase the franchise.”
You get the sensation with Lucasfilm, and its present CEO, Kathleen Kennedy, that story takes priority earlier than something is greenlit, which is probably going how we acquired the unbelievable Andor sequence.
It is also one of many final issues Lucas labored on earlier than he determined to promote to Disney, so Underworld is barely going to turn into extra legendary as time passes. Mix this together with his early concepts for what he had in thoughts for the Sequel Trilogy, corresponding to Darth Maul turning into the brand new huge dangerous, and instantly, you surprise how issues might have been totally different.
Nonetheless, there’s at all times an opportunity the sequence might return ultimately. Andor proved {that a} Star Wars present can thrive with out counting on legacy characters, and Underworld seemingly ticked a whole lot of related bins, simply another way. Because it stands, round 60 almost-complete scripts may very well be given a lightweight revision and presumably put into manufacturing by the top of the yr. Is it possible? No, however it’s enjoyable to consider the street not taken.
In the end, Star Wars Underworld stays a giant ‘what might have been’ within the franchise’s historical past, however it’s additionally clearly been the inspiration behind among the superb exhibits we have gotten in recent times. With out Lucas deciding to promote to Disney, we would not have gotten Andor and every thing else coming quickly, so maybe it is solely proper that Underworld is now one with the Pressure.
