Tales Of The Underworld Has Already Succeeded Where Other Star Wars Shows Failed

It's New "Star Wars" Trailer Day! This time, Lucasfilm Animation has hit us with a flashy announcement promo for "Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld," the third series in the franchise's ongoing animated anthology project on Disney+. The first of those, "Tales of the Jedi," came out back in 2022, while the second, "Tales of the Empire," premiered in 2024 on May 4, known by fans as Star Wars Day.

"Tales of the Underworld" will be making a tradition of that release date, with the series dropping on Disney+ in time to commemorate Star Wars Day 2025. And like its predecessors, it will be a six-episode miniseries divided between two characters — in this instance, the former Sith Assassin Asajj Ventress and legendary bounty hunter Cad Bane.

Simply by putting those two fan favorites in starring roles, "Tales of the Underworld" seems to be making up for some of their recent appearances in other "Star Wars" shows. Bane popped up in the live-action "Book of Boba Fett" series in 2021, but his short-lived (literally) cameo role was called out by some fans as lackluster and a waste of the character, especially given his long history with Fett in canon. Similarly, Ventress showed up in season 3 of "The Bad Batch," the most recent long-form "Star Wars" animated series, in a turn that shocked fans. The reason? She was killed off in the canon 2015 novel "Star Wars: Dark Disciple," and her "Bad Batch" return didn't come with any real explanation of how she's still alive. With "Tales of the Underworld" looking to give Bane some proper material and offer a bit of context for how Ventress survived the Clone Wars, it's already on the right track.

Thanks to the prior "Tales" series, we know what to expect this time around. Ventress and Bane will each get three short episodes, which may jump around to various points in the timeline. We know that Bane dies several years after "Return of the Jedi" in "The Book of Boba Fett," and the majority of his scenes in the trailer show a much younger version of him than we've gotten before. That would set at least one of Bane's episodes prior to the Clone Wars, and the plot seems to involve him tracking down and dueling an old friend and fellow Duros.

The main Ventress plot shown in the trailer sees her defending a young Jedi. Since the kid has his own lightsaber but is still a teenager, it likely takes place not long after the rise of the Empire. However, there are also proper stormtroopers in those scenes, which means the episode takes place after "The Bad Batch" and Ventress' appearance there, as that show features a different kind of proto-stormtrooper armor for Imperial soldiers. Ventress also faces off against an Imperial Inquisitor in the trailer — possibly a new member of the Empire's Force-sensitive division, though he does resemble the Sixth Brother, Bil Valen (who's killed by Ahsoka Tano in the 2016 novel "Ahsoka") — in addition to, apparently, attacking or escaping from an Imperial base in one scene.

Perhaps most notably, there are a few shots featuring Republic gunships, suggesting that we're getting new Clone Wars-era scenes. That might mean finally understanding how Ventress managed to survive her apparent death in "Dark Disciple" — a mystery that's been plaguing fans since "The Bad Batch" season 3. Simply by giving her and Cad Bane more serious screen time and character development, though, the show has already succeeded where past series featuring the two characters have failed.

"Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld" premieres on Disney+ on May 4, 2025, right in the middle of "Andor" season 2.