Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld

Let me get this out of the way. I am a huge Star Wars fan, but like most people have not liked everything that Disney has done. I loved tales of the Jedi, but in all honesty hated tales of the empire. So I was worried, yet cautiously optimistic about tales of the underworld.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. Without giving any spoilers, the Asajj Ventress storyline I found fine. Nothing amazing, but it was not a character assassination like they did with Barris. Some cool fights, but overall pretty forgettable.

Then I get to Bane. From the very start, you could see they were much more inspired. Banes backstory was super interesting, and you could see the character development throughout, and it crescendos perfectly with the final episode. I really really hope we get more Bane content from these creators, they absolutely killed it! I eagerly anticipate next years "tales" series!

A welcome addition to the Star Wars saga, even if it doesn't break entirely new ground. It may not win over those fatigued by the franchise's expanding content, but for dedicated fans, it offers a surprisingly intimate and atmospheric glimpse into the darker corners of the galaxy. The animation is top-notch, the tone mature, and the storytelling focused. While its brevity leaves some arcs feeling a bit rushed, the emotional weight and character depth make up for it. This isn't Star Wars for newcomers - it's for those who've stuck with it and are looking for thoughtful, character-driven stories that respect the lore without relying on nostalgia.

Part of what is slowly turning into an annual tradition of a slew of short Clone Wars-era minisodes loosely grouped by theme. This third time is that particularly 20th Century American aspect of the Wars universe, "the vague seedy underbelly". The bounty hunters and lawbreakers, none of it ever more than euphemistically gritty, especially compared to the shockingly raw contemporaneous Andor Season 2.

Here the first set are the strongest; following an unlikely resurrection, Asajj Ventress is walking the path between light and dark in aide of a likeable young Jedi played by the phenomenally brilliant Lane Factor (Reservation Dog's evergreen Cheese). The Filoniverse is as by-the-numbers as Star Wars gets but this was a deceptive little arc that surprised me. I'd like to see more of these two. I want a Strata subplot in the Mando movie.

The Cad Bane part is less interesting, he's always been more Scrappy-Doo than Clint Eastwood for me as a character, forever showing up and adding little beyond cliché and mannered vocal delivery. His three-part tragic backstory doesn't flesh him out much and plays out like any well-worn "two street-rats separated by destiny doomed to never reconcile" story. Eff.

After the first Jedi series I keep hoping these continuity stocking fillers are far more consequential than they are, but that's not what the Clone Wars era Star Wars was built for. It's there to keep the wheels turning, the content churning out, and to go nowhere particularly interesting in no particular hurry.

I didn't know this was coming out today and I'm usually late to be one of the first to review anything so that's a nice surprise.

The Tales of the .... has become some of my favorite new star wars media. The level of character development it's top notch. I loved what they did in Tales of the Empire and Tales of the Jedi. Dave Filoni makes great stuff.

This was just a good story about one of Asajj Ventress's adventures and Cad Bane. I like the new stories of characters from Clone Wars. It's great seeing old characters on screen again. Even the little clip of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Quinlan together was awesome.

Like every year (for the past couple of years), Star Wars offers us the premiere of an animated series on "May the 4th be with you" that expands a bit on the lore of characters we've met in the prequels, the Mandalorian, animated series, etc.

In addition to the excellent "Tales of the Jedi" and the average "Tales of the Empire," we now have this third version, "Tales of the Underworld." Far inferior to the first but considerably better than the second, it offers us two sets of three episodes, the first focusing on Asajj Ventress and the second on Cad Bane.

The result? A very interesting first half that leaves us wanting more, and a rather average sequel that fails to generate much interest.

I suppose that with the fans' responses, those in charge of Star Wars will gather data on which stories interest us most and which less.

Hopefully, this will result in more series like "Mandalorian" or "Andor" and less "Acolyte" or "Kenobi." In short, an entertaining batch of episodes to binge-watch in one afternoon.