George Lucas' canceled TV show,Star Wars: Underworld, would reportedly have featured the return of Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi in a duel with Darth Maul. It’s easy to forget that George Lucas himself was the one who spunStar Warsout beyond a film franchise. In fact, in the 2000s, he planned to make a live-actionStar WarsTV show.
We don’t know much about Lucas' planned live-action TV show. Apparently scripts for60 episodes ofStar Wars: Underworldwere prepared, and we know one story featured an unlikely romance in which Palpatine was betrayed by a gangster (weirdly, thisUnderworldplot inspired theGod of Wargames). But nownew reports suggestUnderworldwould have been even more ground-breaking.
We know thatStar Wars: Underworldwas set on the lower levels of Coruscant in the Dark Times of the Empire’s reign.Yahoo!just dropped a fascinating report including some rumored plots:
“Rumored plots will sound eerily familiar to anyone who’s watched the last ten years of Star Wars TV shows: the early years of the Empire under Emperor Palpatine, how Han Solo and Lando Calrissian met, a Boba Fett appearance, Obi-Wan Kenobi appearing in Coruscant before a final duel with Maul, and more.”
Lucas Remained Fascinated By The Resurrected Darth Maul
He Knew He Made A Mistake Killing The Sith Lord
It’s become clear thatLucas knew he made a mistake killing Darth Maul.Lucas briefly planned a villain twistinStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, revealing the cyborg General Grievous was actually Darth Maul, saved from death by cybernetic experiments. He found another way to bring Maul back inStar Wars: The Clone Wars, using Nightsister magick.
Star Wars: The Clone WarsandStar Wars Rebelsboth developed the rivalry between Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but it’s staggering to imagine seeing this in live-action - and even more incredible envisioning this in live-action, with Ewan McGregor and Ray Park reprizing the roles.
We Got Something Better
As exciting as this prospect may be, though, I think I’m glad it didn’t happen. For one thing, the idea of Obi-Wan being active during the Dark Times sits rather uncomfortably for me; he’s supposed to be exiled to Tatooine. Disney’sObi-Wan Kenobishow just about works, butI’m staggered by the idea of Obi-Wan going to Coruscant.
Maul’s vendetta would go on to become the focus of hisStar Wars Rebelsplot, and it built to a stunning climax in the season 3 episode “Twin Suns.” As much as I’d love to see some of Lucas' canceled plans forStar Wars, I genuinely don’t think it’s possible to do better than “Twin Suns.” Still, hopefully Lucasfilm will still eventually tell us Wars: Underworld.
