As far back as 2005, STAR WARS creator George Lucas was exploring the idea of a live-action STAR WARS television show. REVENGE OF THE SITH had just concluded the film saga (at least that's what audiences thought at the time) and the concept of a sequel trilogy was just wishful thinking for STAR WARS fans. Hell the Clone Wars television show was still three years away. Almost a decade and a half later, Disney+ finally brought the first STAR WARS live-action television show to life with last year's The Mandalorian. The show was a bona fide success making it well worth the wait.
However, way before Mando and Baby Yoda enchanted audiences with their Lone Wolf And Cub story, Lucas had imagined a very different live-action STAR WARS show. The failed series, titled Star Wars: Underworld, was set on Coruscant between REVENGE OF THE SITH and A NEW HOPE, and would have focused on the seedy underbelly and criminal underworld of the city planet. Think The Wire meets BLADE RUNNER meets STAR WARS. In any event test footage from the aborted series has finally made its way online and I have to say it's pretty impressive:
What's fascinating about Star Wars: Underworld is how close it actually came to being made. Over fifty scripts were written at one point and approximately 100 episodes were planned. In fact the series was still on the table when Disney purchased Lucasfilm. However, the series would have been incredibly expensive involving an inordinate amount of CGI and practical effects. The project eventually crumpled under the weight of its own ambitions and budget concerns. Ironically, several of the episodes would have explored storylines involving the theft of the Death Star plans and how Han Solo first acquired the Millennium Falcon. Both tales were ultimately told on the big screen in ROGUE ONE and SOLO.
So what do you guys think of this footage? Are you disappointed we didn't get a Star Wars: Underworld show? Any chance it eventually gets revived on Disney+? Sound off in the comments below!