As the latest season of Star Wars Rebels approaches, Set the Tape’s Nicholas Lay imagines five rather more adult-themed Star Wars series worthy of transmission from that galaxy far, far away…
1 – The One That Should Have Already Been Made
In 2005, George Lucas announced Star Wars: Underworld, a 100-episode live action epic sans major characters, set deep in the Coruscant underworld between Episodes III and IV. Of course, it never happened (probably because it might actually have been, you know, good) and the idea was permanently shelved in 2010.
While 100 episodes of anything would struggle to maintain quality, a revival in the form of a gritty, adult-orientated HBO-style miniseries seems like the ideal place to start. Realistic character motivations and zero pandering to fanboys (no Jedi; no lightsabers) would feature heavily. The now established Empire would form the backdrop to gangster operations, grizzled bounty hunters (minus Boba Fett) and general everyday life in the bowels of Coruscant.
Imagine all new characters (okay, maybe a practical link to the main series could show up, such as a member of the Hutt family), led by a duo of fleshed out rebel and imperial deserters trying to get out of the bounty hunter game as they struggle with the demons of their past. Instead, they become caught up in a gradually unfolding story of murder and corruption off the back of what should have been their final bounty collection.
Oh, and there would be sex in Star Wars. Because, after 40 years, it is still difficult to prove such a thing exists…