In recent years, Lucasfilm has expanded on the stories of Star Wars icons with movies and TV shows like Solo: A Star Wars Story, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka. A shift to streaming has made the franchise a small-screen property in the eyes of some, as evidenced by The Mandalorian and Grogu's box-office struggles.
While Star Wars creator George Lucas was focused on the original and prequel trilogies—along with an eventual sequel trilogy—he did have plans for Star Wars Underworld. Unfortunately, the hugely ambitious 100-episode series was scrapped because it was too expensive.
However, it seems the filmmaker had plans for another TV show, which would finally explore Emperor Palpatine's origin story and his rise through the Galaxy's political ranks.
Appearing at Spacecon San Antonio 2026, actor Ian McDiarmid revealed (via SFFGazette.com) what he was told about Lucas' plans. "[He] was talking about, I think I can tell you now, a television series. At the time, we didn’t think about Star Wars in terms of a 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," the actor continued. "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."
McDiarmid eventually returned to Star Wars in 2019 with Disney's Skywalker Saga finale, The Rise of Skywalker. The Emperor's voice being teased in one of the movie's trailers sent fans into a frenzy, only for Episode IX itself to disappoint by not explaining his resurrection and utilising the villain poorly (the less said about Force Dyads, the better).
Reflecting on his unexpected comeback, McDiarmid said, "I had no idea that I wasn’t dead. So, it’s been a journey. But I think I’m dead now, but don’t quote me. I don’t believe he’s dead."
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker went to great lengths to establish that Palpatine's evil had finally been vanquished, so it doesn't seem likely that he'd somehow return in a future movie or TV show. Of course, there's nothing to say McDiarmid couldn't reprise the role in a story set in the past, as he did in Star Wars Rebels and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Would you have liked to see an Emperor Palpatine TV series? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.