Scrapped Star Wars TV Series Would Have Shown the Rise of Emperor Palpatine ‘Like Hitler’s’
George Lucas developed plans for a scrapped Star Wars television series that would have chronicled Emperor Palpatine’s rise to power “like Hitler’s,” according to actor Ian McDiarmid. The legendary Star Wars creator pitched the concept directly to McDiarmid, who revealed the details during a panel at Spacecon 2026.
The unrealized series represented an ambitious expansion of the Star Wars universe during a time when television adaptations of the franchise were not yet under serious consideration. Lucas envisioned a narrative framework examining how a charismatic political figure consolidates authoritarian power, using historical parallels to add depth and gravitas to Palpatine’s transformation into a galactic tyrant.
While Lucas personally approached McDiarmid about reprising his iconic role as the Sith Lord for the project, the series never progressed beyond the conceptual pitch stage. McDiarmid’s account marks a rare public glimpse into abandoned ideas from Lucas’s creative archives, highlighting the numerous Star Wars projects that existed in various stages of development before the creator sold the franchise to Disney in 2012. The revelation underscores how dramatically different Star Wars’ television expansion might have looked under Lucas’s original vision compared to the shows that eventually materialized under Disney’s stewardship.