Amid their flagship projects, like the upcoming Maul: Shadow Lord and Star Wars: Visions Season 3, Lucasfilm has been giving a gift to Star Wars fans in recent years through their Tales of series. This trend began with Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, which chronicled the origins of Count Dooku (Corey Burton) and spotlighted very key moments in the life of Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). Instead of simply sticking with the Jedi for a second season, the Tales of series branched out with the follow-up, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, which served as a prologue for Ahsoka villain Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) and an epilogue for disgraced Clone Wars hero Barriss Offee (Meredith Salenger).
Now, Lucasfilm is going for a hat-trick with its latest shorts anthology, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, which shines a light on two of Star Wars animation’s most morally gray characters — former Sith assassin Asajj Ventress (Nika Futterman) and ruthless bounty-hunting gunslinger Cad Bane (Burton). Just like with the previous two shows, Tales of the Underworld delivers on the brilliant opportunity to expand on fan-favorite characters in more bite-sized stories. That being said, the format of this ongoing saga could benefit from some tweaks to help flesh out these characters further.
What Is ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld’ About?
Similar to Tales of the Empire, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld features two stories, with one a prologue and the other an epilogue. The latter is first, showcasing Asajj Ventress somehow surviving certain death at the tail-end of the Clone Wars and being forced to navigate an uncertain future now that the Empire has taken over, all while forming an unlikely bond with a young Jedi. The second half of the season reveals the origins of Cad Bane, revealing his journey from an innocent street dweller into a merciless killer, which puts him at odds with his childhood best friend.
It makes perfect sense why Ventress and Bane were chosen as the main protagonists for Tales of the Underworld. Both of them became instant fan-favorites thanks to their introductions in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (though technically Ventress’ history dates even further back than that with Genndy Tartakovsky‘s Clone Wars micro-series), and there are certainly spots in the Star Wars timeline where their tales can see some expansion. Overall, the show does add some intriguing new wrinkles to Ventress and Bane’s stories, but there are also some bumps in the galactic road.
Things get off to a great start with Ventress’ first episode. Not only does Futterman’s voice performance continue to ooze alluring charisma, but it’s great to see the now-beloved Force-wielder go toe-to-toe with Imperial Stormtroopers, who look amazing in the Clone Wars art style, as well as an equally cool-looking Sith Inquisitor. It’s an opening that screams classic Star Wars, but it also proves to be the high point of Ventress’ story pretty early on.
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The other two parts feel more like side-quest material that doesn’t move the needle of Ventress’ character development all that much. Plus, her taking on a new pupil (albeit reluctantly) feels like it’s retreading old ground, given that she did the exact same thing with Omega (Michelle Ang) in The Bad Batch — only there, she was working with a character who was already decently fleshed out. It’s a shame because the opening scene of the first episode answers a significant question many fans have had ever since the character appeared in The Bad Batch, but it isn’t elaborated on in favor of a so-so heist mission and a very aimless “Great Divide”-esque episode.
Did Cad Bane’s Prologue Need To Be Told in ‘Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld’?
Cad Bane’s half of the series fares quite a bit better. His three episodes boast a much more streamlined three-act structure, following Bane from when he was a young boy, to a reckless young adult, and finally to the cold-blooded gunslinger that we all know and love. Since Cad Bane is a character that is directly inspired by the vast rogues gallery of Western heavies, such as Sentenza (Lee Van Cleef) in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, it’s more than appropriate that Bane’s story has clear and deep roots in the Western genre. The brothers-turned-enemies storyline isn’t anything particularly new — especially since Revenge of the Sith just returned in theaters — but it does give Bane a bit more (for lack of a better term) humanity, especially with the last episode having a heavy implication despite making the wise decision to leave said implication ambiguous.
Bane’s saga is definitely the strongest of the two told in Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, but there’s still a valid question that remains — is this a story that necessarily needed to be told? Cad Bane has always thrived on being a character whose life and history are shrouded in mystery and intrigue. His story here doesn’t completely diminish that and does add a fun new wrinkle to his tale, but with a franchise as large and as expansive as Star Wars, it begs the question of whether every character should earn a spin-off tale.
‘Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld’ Is Consistent Story-Wise, for Better and Worse
For better and worse, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld feels very consistent with the flagship series it’s spinning off from. Cad Bane’s half has the powerful character moments and depth that Dave Filoni‘s animated Star Wars shows have become widely beloved for, but Asajj Ventress’ half has the frequent filler that the same series routinely stumble into.
The short-form structure also feels like it could be re-examined for potential future seasons, as a single 45-minute special in the same vein as the phenomenal Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special could tell a much more focused story. As things stand now, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld is still, overall, a very satisfying detour through the galaxy that gives fans even more content for two fan-favorite characters.
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld is streaming now on Disney+.
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld
Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld is a great way to spend May the 4th, even if there’s room for this anthology saga to improve.
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Nika Futterman
Asajj Ventress
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- Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane get some solid chapters to their stories.
- Cad Bane’s tale is a fun Western-inspired tragedy.
- Asajj Ventress’ opening episode is very strong…
- …but the other two don’t match up.
- Both stories do retread familiar territory.
