Get ready guys to give an unexpectedly warm and slightly awkward “Hello,there” to actor Ewan McGregor who will be reprising his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a brand new Star Wars series! The prequels in the 2000’s got a lot of things wrong but McGregor’s Kenobi was not one of them. His time in the prequel trilogy gave us a shadow of Alec Guinesses’ Ben Kenobi. In his younger days, we saw the young master greet adversity and challenges with compassion and optimism.
The death of his master Qui Gon Jinn couldn’t break him. The Clone Wars couldn’t break him. Then, he witnessed the fall of the Jedi Order and the death of a dream, along with a friend, in Revenge of the Sith. Now, we get to see how he copes with said crippling loss before once again finding hope in Luke Skywalker. We’re so stoked to see these lost days of Kenobi’s life and how the this Disney+ series will bridge the gap between Revenge and New Hope. In our excitement, we got to thinking, are there other characters in Star Wars canon who deserve their own series?
The answer is yes. The universe of Star Wars is a rich and vast one with plenty of interesting characters whose stories haven’t always gotten the most attention. So we thought we’d throw a few suggestions out there into the ether. Here are five characters in Star Wars who need their very own series!
1. Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sidious/The Emperor
Next to Vader, Sheev Palpatine is one of the greatest villains in the entirety of the Star Wars franchise. Even when he’s not directly on screen, his presence is felt with people speaking his name with deference. In Return of the Jedi, we saw him at his most wicked and cruel, a master of the Dark Side of the Force. How did it all begin though? Was he always so irredeemably evil? Was there a time he perhaps experienced a pull towards the Light?
We know in the prequels that he was the apprentice of Darth Palageius the Wise, Darth Sidious but that’s all we really get from the films. The Emperor has left such a huge impact on the universe. In life, he staged a phoney war that deceived the Jedi, destroyed the order and plunged the galaxy into decades of tyrannical rule. In his death or mere absence, we have legions of loyalists rise to carry on his cause and reestablish his empire.
I know there are reservations about pulling back the curtains on iconic villains, I mean look at what Lucas did to Darth Vader in the prequel films. That being said, I believe with the right writers and directors, an origin series of the Emperor could be amazing. The Emperor has so many layers to his character. On the surface he is a cultured, diplomatic aristocrat but beneath the facade lies this power-hungry, cackling monster. That doesn’t just happen overnight. There is an untold story waiting to be brought to life. It could be like Hannibal in space! At the very least we can finally see the story of Darth Palageius the Wise, instead of hearing it at some weird-ass opera!
2. Kylo Ren
Truth be told, I’m not really a big fan of Kylo Ren. Sure he’s a skilful warrior of the Force and lightsaber expert but there’s so much to him that’s still shrouded in mystery. When I say mystery I don’t mean mystery as in there’s an air of intrigue that surrounds him because well…the kid isn’t exactly subtle. More like it would be nice if we could better understand where he’s coming from instead of us just getting a brief flashback in Last Jedi.
There are so much rage and baggage with this guy and yet we’ve never really been given a solid reason why. Is one small oopsie with Luke really enough to set him over the edge? How did he know about Snoke and the First Order? More importantly, where are those freaking Knights of Ren?! Perhaps we’ll get a bit more information on his backstory in Rise of Skywalker come this December, but frankly, I don’t think it’ll be enough.
Kylo has the potential to be a great villain. We keep hearing about his checkered past from folks like Luke, Han, Leia and Snoke. It would be nice for a change if we could see and hear about Ren’s life and fall to the Dark Side from his perspective. There’s creating an air of mystique through word of mouth and then there’s robbing your character of any agency and engagement with the audience because of heavy-handed exposition. Ren is on a razor edge between the two categories and any time, he could fall over into the latter. Perhaps a series is exactly what we need to truly understand our new Supreme Leader of the First Order.
3. Maul
The first time I saw Darth Maul, I thought he was the coolest looking character I had ever seen in the whole of the Star War franchise! Children can be hyperbolic and yes, I was one of them. By the end, however, of Phantom Menace, I was left disappointed thinking that Darth Maul died on a whimper without a word. Then again, he never really did say much in the film. Years later I began following the Clone Wars TV series and damn was I glad to be wrong.
Our dear Darth Maul has lived quite an eventful life after his first encounter with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He went insane, rebuilt a new cybernetic body and reunited with his brother, Savage Opress. From then on, he would lead an underworld criminal empire and would become one of the leaders of the Mandalorians. He even challenged Palpatine for the title of Dark Lord of the Sith.
And while he met his untimely end by the hands of Kenobi in Star Wars: Rebels, there is a great deal of lore that has yet to be uncovered. In fact, I foresee Disney using Maul sometime in the future. For you see near the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story, a former lover of Han Solo, Qi’ra revealed to the audience that all this while she has been faithfully serving Maul. Is this plainly a fun cameo for the sake of scoring brownie points with longtime Star Wars fans? I doubt so seeing that Disney is very deliberate when it comes to setting up potential subplots. Maul isn’t exactly so much a villain these days than he is an outlaw/anti-hero. We could see how the former Sith Lord played a role in undermining his former master’s Empire in a future series.
4. Mace Windu
There’s a whole lot we don’t know about Mace Windu, besides the fact he’s played by one very cool cat. There were a ton of stuff written about him in comics and books, there was also a really badass animated short by Genndy Tartakovsky that saw him wiping the floor with an entire droid army. The problem is that with Disney now setting the status quo, a good chunk of all the lore surrounding him is called into question. Which is a shame because Windu is a Jedi unlike ever seen before.
Within the Jedi Order of old, there is a number of lightsaber forms and techniques a Jedi can utilize in combat. Combat tends to have a corrupting influence on the mind and soul of a Force-user, so they created a series of acceptable techniques and forms a Jedi could use without being drawn to the Dark Side. Windu, however, developed his own form: Vaapad. Windu can essentially draw upon the rage and bloodlust of his combatant and redirect it back at his attacker. Thus, the longer a battle goes on, the more ferocious and deadly Windu fights. He’s using the Dark Side against itself which is nothing short of unorthodox, to say the least.
Don’t let Windu’s austere disposition fool you, the man doesn’t always play by the rules. It would really be something else to see how Windu developed from talented Padawan to hardened warrior to settled but controversial master. I know he got technically thrown out a window at the end of Revenge of the Sith but hey Maul got bisected and he was still kicking around for a long, long time. They could go the origin story route, the post-Clone Wars way or heck maybe even do both. We just need some Windu up in here.
5. Darth Bane
If you thought Palpatine was a deeply fascinating representation of the Dark Side, then you ain’t seen nothing yet. Only the most diehard of Star Wars fans will remember his appearance in the Clone Wars animated series, which is counted as canon mind you. He is the Sith Lord who founded the infamous code of The Rule of Two. What is the Rule of Two? It is the belief that there can only be two true Sith Lords at any given time: a master and an apprentice. This is to ensure that infighting and weakness within the Sith Order never destroys them again. For it is the destiny of every apprentice to overthrow their master and the master’s role to defend the title. While there is room Sith Acolytes and Inquisitors as seen in Rebels, there can only be two true leaders at a time. A dynasty of masters and apprentices to keep nepotism and sentiment from bringing about ruin.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be all about Darth Bane but it would be truly intriguing to see the roots of the Rule of Two were formed and trace the lineage of previous Sith Lords. For years, they have operated in the shadow without ever being discovered. Who knows what secrets they hold? With Palpatine set to return in Rise of Skywalker, there’s a strong possibility that we could see the Rule of Two dynasty established once more with Palpatine and Kylo being the new Sith Lords. In any case, this titan of the Force deserves to a series of his own. There’s so much about the Force left unexplained, and so much of its history brushed aside for this new wave. There’s an untapped wealth of stories waiting to be explored.
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