Scrapped Star Wars Series Would Have Explored Emperor Palpatine’s Rise to Power : Coastal House Media

Before Disney+ transformed Star Wars into a television powerhouse, George Lucas had plans for an ambitious live-action series that would have explored one of the franchise’s darkest stories: the rise of Emperor Palpatine.

During a recent appearance at Spacecon 2026, Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed Palpatine throughout the saga, revealed surprising new details about the long-canceled project. According to the actor, Lucas envisioned a series centered on the Emperor’s political ascent and the methods he used to seize control of the galaxy.

“[George Lucas] was talking about, I think I can tell you now, a television series,” McDiarmid said. “At the time we didn’t think about Star Wars in terms of television series. Very speculative. We had lunch one day, and he said I’ve got this idea, and I hope you might want to be involved. We could sort of follow the Emperor’s progress, like Hitler’s, some of that. There might be an assassination attempt, and of course it wouldn’t succeed. It sounded really exciting. And he also said that maybe you could direct one, and then I fainted. But sadly, that didn’t come to pass.”

While McDiarmid did not specifically name the series, many fans believe he was referring to Star Wars: Underworld, Lucas’ long-gestating live-action project that was set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. The series reportedly spent years in development, with more than 50 scripts written before its enormous production costs ultimately led to its cancellation.

Ian McDiarmid, Sheev Palpatine

Star Wars: Underworld was intended to explore the criminal and political underworld of Coruscant during the early days of the Empire. Producer Rick McCallum previously described the show as a darker, grittier take on the franchise, focusing on the power struggles occurring as the Empire tightened its grip on the galaxy.

What’s especially intriguing about McDiarmid’s comments is the suggestion that Palpatine would have played a much larger role than fans previously believed. Earlier reports indicated the Emperor would remain mostly in the background, but Lucas apparently envisioned a deeper examination of his rise to power and the political maneuvering that allowed him to transform the Galactic Republic into an authoritarian regime.

The comparison to historical dictators isn’t entirely new. Lucas has previously spoken about Palpatine’s rise as a cautionary tale about how democracies can slowly become dictatorships, drawing inspiration from several real-world historical figures and political movements.

Although Star Wars: Underworld never made it to screens, its influence can still be felt throughout modern Star Warsprojects. Many of the ideas and technologies developed for the series eventually helped pave the way for shows like The Mandalorian, ensuring that Lucas’ ambitious vision wasn’t entirely lost to history.