George Lucas will always be known as the creator of Star Wars galaxy. Before Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney, he had developed an adult-oriented Star Wars TV show titled Star Wars: Underworld.

Lucas and Co. already had According to producer Rick McCallum, Underworld’s stories would have been “dark,” “sexy,” and “violent,” exploring the lowest levels of Coruscant’s underworld and the early days of the Rebellion. Nowadays, of course, there is the sublime Andor, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for Lucas’ original vision, either.

Why Star Wars: Underworld Didn't Happen Before

McCallum explained that the biggest roadblock to getting Star Wars: Underworld made wasn’t the story, the show’s grittiness, or a lack of enthusiasm – it was the cost. Despite having a meeting lined up with none other than HBO, well known for their prestige and cinematic-level television, it didn’t work out. The then-CEO became embroiled in a scandal just before the meeting. Things never progressed, and the show was subsequently canceled before it could get off the ground.

According to McCallum, each episode would have cost roughly $40 million to produce in the late 2000s, an astronomical amount of money for a television episode – back then, at least. Major budgets are more common nowadays in the age of streaming. An episode of The Mandalorian costs roughly $15 million, while an episode of Andor can cost up to $25 million.

Technology Has Advanced Now (& Budgets Are Higher Too)

Of course, cinematic technology has advanced rapidly since the late 2000s, and CGI, especially, is a whole other ballgame. Many Star Wars TV shows are now also shot on The Volume rather than on location. The Volume is essentially an immersive, 360-degree sound stage surrounded by massive LED screens which allows the background of a shot to be changed in real-time – think lighting, layering, new objects, etc. – while something is being filmed.

This technology would undoubtedly have been a game-changer for a show like Star Wars: Underworld, especially when shooting scenes in as complex an environment as Coruscant. Some audiences and creators (understandably) believe that shooting primarily in The Volume removes some of the tactile nature of filmmaking. But, if Star Wars wanted to give Lucas’ final Star Wars project a shot, this could be how to do it.

$40 million in 2008 is now roughly $60 million. Given all the advancements that have been made in practical and digital effects, it’s unlikely it would ever cost that much to make an episode of Star Wars: Underworld now. Not if the show decided to focus a bit more on Coruscant’s underworld storyline rather than the Rebellion or any of Star Wars’ major players.

Star Wars: Underworld Would Be A Fantastic Addition To Modern Star Wars

Some scripts reportedly focused on Palpatine, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian, and Han Solo. Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) were even set to appear in the series, so why not Hayden Christensen? Though the script details are sparse, given what we know about the larger story, we can imagine it would have been similar to what Andor is now; a dark, complex, politically charged thriller about the emergence of the Rebellion and the festering darkness of Coruscant as the Empire’s dictatorial policies began to neglect it completely.

Certain stories have already been told, of course. Andor (and Star Wars Rebels) have shown us the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance, and Solo: A Star Wars Story depicted Han Solo’s life before the events of A New Hope, too. Similarly, Star Wars: The Bad Batch takes place right at the start of the Empire’s reign and tells us what happened to the Clone Troopers in the wake of the Clone War. The issue isn’t that there aren’t stories set during this time in Star Wars – there’s just so much left to tell.

Star Wars: Underworld could be the perfect examination of a galaxy under dictatorial rule, and those who have been left behind in the process.

Star Wars: Underworld could do that perfectly. It could study the rise of new criminal empires, the growth of bounty hunters, and how oppression leaves the most vulnerable of society powerless and weak. It could dive into the Senate’s corruption without needing to tie it back to the Rebellion and the galaxy’s favorite heroes. Star Wars: Underworld could be the perfect examination of a galaxy under dictatorial rule, and those who have been left behind in the process.

Underworld Would Give George Lucas A Whole New Legacy

If, and that’s a big if, Star Wars were to one day decide to move forward with Underworld, in whatever capacity that may be, it would undoubtedly give George Lucas a whole new legacy. Lucas may have created Star Wars with kids in mind, but he’s never shied away from being political or direct in his storytelling. That’s evident in the original Star Wars trilogy, the prequels, and even a show like Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Nevertheless, those stories were, to an extent, restricted by their target demographic. Concepts needed to be simplified; characters like Jar-Jar Binks provided (somewhat unnecessary) lighthearted moments, and though they certainly included horrifying scenarios – the obliteration of Alderaan in A New Hope, Anakin choking Pé in Revenge of the Sith, the deaths of the Jedi after Order 66 – these moments were never depicted as brutally, and the consequences were never explored as painfully as they could have been.

Lucas may have created Star Wars with kids in mind, but he’s never shied away from being political or direct in his storytelling.

Star Wars: Underworld could become that. Oppression and its cost on society are horrifying. A streaming show on Disney+ wouldn’t need to shy away from that. Clearly, George Lucas understood that Star Wars’ storytelling potential was limitless. Andor has proven that an adult-oriented Star Wars narrative can be just as popular as the rest of the franchise’s most recent output, and even more critically successful. Why not do more?

It would be a shame if Andor became the first and last mature on-screen Star Wars property. If Disney possesses 60 Lucas-approved scripts, what’s stopping them from adapting them for the current canon and making Lucas’ vision a reality? Star Wars has been struggling with its trajectory, relying too much on nostalgia for what’s already been made. People will tune in if they know George Lucas created this, though, and Star Wars: Underworld has the potential to be something truly special.