George Lucas wanted to make a series about Palpatine with historical parallels

Actor Ian McDiarmid, who played Emperor Palpatine, shared previously unknown details about the plans George Lucas for the Star Wars series.

According to McDiarmid, Lucas personally invited him to lunch to discuss the idea. The idea involved a series about the political development of the emperor with clear historical parallels:

At the time, we didn't think about Star Wars in terms of the television series. These were very speculative considerations. He talked about following the Emperor's political path... There could have been an assassination attempt, which, of course, would have failed.

Sounded really exciting. And he also said that maybe I could direct the project, and then I lost my mind. But, unfortunately, this did not happen.

From McDiarmid's description, Lucas was planning a political thriller series that, like Tony Gilroy's Andor, would borrow elements from true history to tell a compelling story.

It remains an open question whether we are talking about Star Wars: Underworld, the live-action series that Lucas developed for several years but ultimately canceled due to budget constraints.

That project was supposed to take place between the third and fourth episodes. At one time it was reported that the Emperor in the series would remain a supporting character, virtually invisible to the viewer.