Star Wars The Clone Wars Season Six

[AviTrek]

Yeah, opting to conclude the Maul arc in the comics was a weak decision.

Which presupposes that they had a choice. I assume the episodes we got are ones they already had mostly completed at the point of cancellation, while the Maul one was in an earlier stage and thus actually animating it would've required money, time, and resources they just weren't given. So it was either a comic or nothing.

I would have greatly preferred nothing. No comic follow up whatsoever.

Why? Because then the fans would be in a more agreeable position to say to the showrunners at Rebels/Star Wars nu-film spin offs, etc: "Hey, do you think maybe at some point you could fix the gigantic error in judgment you made about bringing back a character from the dead (widely contemptuous among the fan base) only to leave the storyline hanging post-cancellation?"

Isn't it basically the same writing/production team? Seems like their mess to fix. On screen, not on paper. They did everything right (the stories were great) except for leaving the biggest loose end untied. Maul was the main villain of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This isn't some random pirate or space thug, or one-off character without a name for the film version. It's. Freakin'. MAUL. His fate should be revealed on screen, as was his resurrection.

I know they don't have any obligation to the fans but, like I said, as fans the bargaining position is far greater sans comic conclusion.

Spoiler: Maul

If Disney wasn't so clearly anti-PT, I would have suspected that they intend to somehow work Maul into episodes 7~9 somehow. You can't deny the fanwank appeal of Maul vs. Luke Skywalker.

They should leave the timey-wimey stuff to Doctor Who.

I couldn't agree more... the linear representation of the Star Wars universe is a welcome contrast to the rest of current, past and future sci fi offerings.
A time-traveling ghost would be interesting enough as its own story anyway!

Fans need to stop crying about loose ends. The Lost producers had some great comments on the topic at the recent 10 year anniversary event.

 

[Christopher]

I would have greatly preferred nothing. No comic follow up whatsoever.

Why? Because then the fans would be in a more agreeable position to say to the showrunners at Rebels/Star Wars nu-film spin offs, etc: "Hey, do you think maybe at some point you could fix the gigantic error in judgment you made about bringing back a character from the dead (widely contemptuous among the fan base) only to leave the storyline hanging post-cancellation?"

Well, the existence of a print adaptation of an untold story does not preclude a screen adaptation later on. Case in point: when FOX reluctantly cancelled Alien Nation for business reasons, they worked with the producers for years to find a way to bring the show back, developing scripts for several TV movies. After a few years, it looked like the movies would never happen and they were adapted as novels by Pocket Books. But just a year or so later, the TV movies went ahead anyway.

The thing that needs to be remembered is that books or comics based on a screen franchise will generally be read by only about 1 to 2% of the screen audience, because, sadly, most people don't read. Hardly any of the Star Wars viewing audience will even be aware this comic exists at all, so its existence would have no impact on the prospects of the same story being adapted or reinvented for the screen. It's the same reason all the rhetoric about the books and comics being canon was never meaningful -- they were never a large enough piece of the pie for the screen productions to be limited or impeded by them in any way.

Isn't it basically the same writing/production team? Seems like their mess to fix.

But they're answering to different masters. They don't have 100 percent creative control. When new people -- in this case, the Disney TV executives -- take over a project, they want to make their own mark and establish their own creations, rather than just carrying forward what their predecessors did.

If Rebels goes on long enough, then maybe it will get around to revisiting threads from TCW like Ahsoka and Maul. But for now, the people involved are more concerned with establishing it as its own show, asserting its own identity.

Maul was the main villain of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This isn't some random pirate or space thug, or one-off character without a name for the film version. It's. Freakin'. MAUL.

I don't recall him being anything more than a nearly-mute henchman for Sidious/Palpatine. He had a distinctive look and did a bunch of fighting, but he was basically no different from Odd Job or Jaws in a James Bond movie. He never actually had a personality until TCW.

But then, it's hard to understand the fascinations of SW fans sometimes. Boba Fett was just some bit player in a mask, yet somehow fandom became intensely fascinated by him at a point when he was nothing more than an action figure and a supporting character in The Star Wars Holiday Special.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Isn't it basically the same writing/production team? Seems like their mess to fix. On screen, not on paper. They did everything right (the stories were great) except for leaving the biggest loose end untied. Maul was the main villain of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This isn't some random pirate or space thug, or one-off character without a name for the film version.

No. Maul's role was equivalent to Grievous or Jango. Just a brute for the jedi to fight and kill. Even less so than Grievous probably since the General had a bit more character.

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, Maul wasn't the Maul villain. Hell until TCW he was barely a character at all.

I do get the point though, after bringing him back from the dead it's a little off not to show his "actual" ultimate fate. But, as others have said it's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. While I'd be interested to see where they were going with him, I'm not exactly champing at the bit to know.

I'm *much* more interested to know what happened with Ashoka and Asajj, but even so, I'd rather the new show have time to get it's space legs and break some new ground before it starts getting into that sort of thing.

 

[Set Harth]

Yeah, Maul wasn't the Maul villain.

You'd think he would've had that one locked up.

 

[Reverend]

I swear my typing is getting worse by the day!

 

[ALF]

That's alright Reverend,- I got the Maul point of your message.

Anyway - I am certainly not losing sleep over the mishandling of the return of Darth Maul. There's very little for me to complain about in TCW now that it's all over so this is just one thing. Otherwise, I'd say it's a masterpiece that very much highlights the prequel era in a more flattering way than the films do.

My point was I just think it's silly to assume any large number of fans of the series are going to rush out, but whichever 4 or 6 issues they are planning to wrap this storyline up in and find it nearly as satisfying as a properly produced arc of the series. That may be an obvious point but I hope Christopher's suggestion comes to fruition; that material used for print in canceled series' make their way somehow into the fold again. And it will be very interesting to see how many (if any) TCW characters make it into Rebels. We will all have to wait and see.

By the way, Maul may not have been the "main" villain of TPM, but wasn't his face plastered everywhere, all over the merchandise, kids dressed as him for Hallowe'en, KFC frisbees, etc. Although he wasn't the main villain storywise, he most certainly was the main one in the marketing.

 

[Set Harth]

His face is on the DVD and the novelization cover ( well, at least one of them ).

 

[cooleddie74]

And on most of the toy and collectible packaging in both 1999 and 2012 (the 3-D rerelease). Sidious and the two Trade Federation leaders in charge of the blockade were arguably the bigger villains than Maul in the first Prequel, but he was certainly the badass, tattooed face and symbol of the movie and represented the evil forces fighting both the Jedi and the Naboo in the storyline as well as the return of the Sith to prominence after so many centuries of the Jedi believing their order had gone extinct.

 

[RoJoHen]

Just powered through the entire Clone Wars show, and finished Season 6 last night. All in all this was a fantastic series. The only thing that bums me out about the final season is the lack of Ahsoka and Ventress, and I wonder if they would have showed up if the season ran for a full 22 episodes.

 

[Enterprise1701]

I wonder how Star Wars: The Clone Wars would have fared if Disney hadn't bought Lucasfilm and started the sequel trilogy.

 

[cooleddie74]

There've been theories that the show would have gotten picked up for at least a sixth and full season of episodes on Cartoon Network if nothing else. Maybe the series wouldn't have survived past Year Six but that's always going to be up for speculation.

Even without a Disney buyout there's been talk for years now of a live-action series with an even darker and grittier atmosphere. That might well have eventually come to fruition under Lucas and McCallum, but with the new leadership and creative direction at Lucasfilm we may never know how the franchise would have progressed in filmed media past the end of The Clone Wars.

 

[Christopher]

I doubt Lucas would ever have gone ahead with the live-action TV series, because he'd gotten too spoiled by success and forgotten how to make compromises to fit the realities of television budgets and logistics. The chances of a live-action show are much better now that he's no longer the one making the decisions.

 

[Reverend]

I wonder how Star Wars: The Clone Wars would have fared if Disney hadn't bought Lucasfilm and started the sequel trilogy.

It would have finished it's sixth season and ended. It's pretty clear from the "Lost Episodes" that they intended it to end here.

 

[Stephen!]

The thing that needs to be remembered is that books or comics based on a screen franchise will generally be read by only about 1 to 2% of the screen audience, because, sadly, most people don't read.

Maybe they could bundle it as a mini comic when season 6 gets a DVD release.

 

[Mr Light]

I've read that they were planning to go 7 to 8 seasons.

 

[Enterprise1701]

I've read that they were planning to go 7 to 8 seasons.

Dunno where you heard that. All I know is that soon before Star Wars: The Clone Wars began, it was announced that George Lucas wanted to make at least "100 episodes". I think that quote is still up on Wikipedia to this day.

 

[Mr Light]

First they said 100... then towards the end they said 7-8 years... but the Season Six episodes clearly indicate they were heading towards the end so I guess it was scaled back to 6-7.

 

[ALF]

I've read that they were planning to go 7 to 8 seasons.

Dunno where you heard that. All I know is that soon before Star Wars: The Clone Wars began, it was announced that George Lucas wanted to make at least "100 episodes". I think that quote is still up on Wikipedia to this day.

I'd read that too, could mean just the momentum of the writers and that they had outlines or treatments of future seasons, even if the possibility of doing them was remote.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Tim ####ing Curry as Palpatine?

Just finishing off episode 13.

The first four were incredibly strong as they lampooned the Manchurian Candidate.



I used to sleep better when I thought Jar Jar was a virgin.