- Primary Subject: George Lucas's canceled Star Wars prequel television series about Emperor Palpatine's origins
- Key Update: Ian McDiarmid revealed that George Lucas was developing a TV series exploring Palpatine’s Hitler-like rise to power.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: June 18, 2026
- Quick Answer: Ian McDiarmid revealed George Lucas planned a prequel series tracking Palpatine’s Hitler-like rise to power, which was ultimately canceled after Disney bought Lucasfilm.
Ian McDiarmid recently revealed that George Lucas was developing a prequel series about Emperor Palpatine before it was canceled.
Before Lucasfilm was sold to Disney, the legendary filmmaker was notably working on multiple Star Wars projects that would have expanded his vision for the franchise. However, all the plans fell through when Disney took over the property.
As it turns out, Lucas was working on a prequel that would have focused on the origins of the franchise's iconic villain.
What Was George Lucas' Plan for Palpatine Prequel Series?
As reported by Popverse, during a panel at Spacecon 2026, Ian McDiarmid revealed that Lucas was working on a Star Wars prequel TV series that would have explored Palpatine's origins and rise to power, similar to Adolf Hitler.
Unfortunately, the plans eventually fell through. He also shared that he was invited to direct an episode if the project ends up happening.
"[George Lucas] 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 television series. Very speculative," the actor said.
"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."
It is unclear if the idea was also part of the planned Star Wars: Underworld series, but this intrigued some fans, as there was interest in exploring Palpatine's origins, especially coming from Lucas himself.
Now that the idea is public, it would be interesting to see whether the new Lucasfilm leadership under Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan would revisit and consider turning it into a reality.
What Next for the Star Wars Franchise on Television?
Fans can look forward to the release of the second season of Ahsoka. It is currently slated to premiere on Disney+ in early 2027. The main cast from the first season is set to return.
Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord recently ended its first season to acclaim from fans and critics. A second season is currently in the works.
There is no word yet on whether Lucasfilm will develop more new Star Wars live-action shows in the future, especially in the aftermath of the new leadership in the studio.
It also remains unknown whether there are plans to develop a fourth season of The Mandalorian following the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu.
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