Meanwhile, Star Wars is known not only for many movies but also for many series. George Lucas himself had plans. Now we have learned about one of those plans, which would have focused on the worst villain in the series.
Star Wars has not only taken place in cinemas for a long time, but also on television. With series like The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, or Obi-Wan Kenobi, Disney brought the distant universe to their streaming service.
But George Lucas also had plans for series, as the actor of the Emperor has now revealed. And it was supposed to be about him.
The Rise of Darth Sidious
What kind of series is it about? As Popverse reports, Ian McDiarmid, the actor of the Emperor, had a panel at Spacecon 2026. This is a convention that deals with pop culture, preferably Sci-Fi. As often, actors have panels where audiences can ask questions.
During his panel, McDiarmid explained that George Lucas had plans for a television series. At that time, there were no concrete plans for Star Wars on television. McDiarmid recounted:
One day we were having lunch together, and he said: “I have an idea, and I hope you might want to participate. We could sort of trace the steps of the Emperor, similar to Hitler, something like that.”
According to McDiarmid, Lucas thought, in line with the historical model, of a failed assassination attempt. The actor also mentions that Lucas spoke about allowing McDiarmid to direct. However, this series never materialized.
It is unclear whether this would have been Star Wars: Underworld. This was a series announced in 2005 that never came to fruition. It would have taken place between Episode 3 and 4. According to CBR, Lucasfilm wanted to implement characters from the Expanded Universe (comics, books, games).
However, the series likely failed due to budget issues. According to Movieweb (via Wayback Machine), George Lucas reportedly had problems with the costs of an unknown series. In an interview, he explained that for a series, one can only spend a tenth of the costs of a big film.
But what do you think about it? Would you have been interested in a Palpatine series, or are you now tired of Star Wars? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments. In 2026, another popular villain got a series: A new series about one of the coolest characters from Star Wars has now been renewed before it even started
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!