This Synopsis for Star Wars: Underworld Sounds Great and Terrible

Another day, another tidbit about Star Wars: Underworld, the live-action Star Wars show doomed to development limbo. The series was a George Lucas idea originally announced back in 2005, and by the time Disney purchased Lucasfilm, 50 hours of the series were rumored to have already been scripted.

Kathleen Kennedy has said that she’d be interested in resurrecting the project, but, as of earlier this year, Lucasfilm said there were no plans for Underworld in the works, with all of their Star Wars TV efforts being focused on animated projects instead. In other words, it’s not a project we’ll be seeing anytime soon.

Now, God of War director Cory Barlog has stirred up public interest in Star Wars: Underworld again. In an interview with Venturebeat, Barlog, in discussing the character trajectory of God of War‘s Kranos, referenced the way Star Wars: Underworld intended to radically change audiences’ perceptions of an iconic Star Wars character. Barlog, who worked briefly at Lucasarts, says Kranos’ transformation was partially inspired by the character development of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Underworld:

Probably the really small beginnings of this idea, the germination of this — when I was working at Lucas, I was allowed to go up to the ranch and read the scripts for the [canceled live-action Star Wars] TV show. It was the most mind-blowing thing I’d ever experienced. I cared about the Emperor. They made the Emperor a sympathetic figure who was wronged by this fucking heartless woman. She’s 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. That’s something magical. The writers who worked on that, guys from The Shield and 24, these were excellent writers.

That sounds bonkers. Star Wars: Underworld would take place between Episode III and Episode IV, and I’d absolutely be intrigued to learn more about what was taking place in Palpatine’s personal life during that time.

At the same time, I have a hard time imagining I’d side with him over his “hardcore gangster” ex—I’d actually rather watch a series about Palpatine’s “fucking heartless” former lover than Palpatine himself—and I don’t know if I’d be able to tolerate an entire series in which Palpatine uses a break-up as an excuse for his terrible behavior. Isn’t that kind of what the prequels were all about anyway, a man using romantic angst to justify terrible deeds?

Regardless, it would certainly be a different side of Palpatine than we’d previously seen before. Would you be interested in seeing Star Wars: Underworld ever come to pass?

(via io9)

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