Luke Skywalker is easily one of the best heroes in movie history, but there’s no debate about the best villain. Darth Vader is the cream of the crop, intimidating the entire galaxy with his mysterious appearance and menacing breathing. He’s also great with a lightsaber, defeating any opponent that crosses his path. However, Vader isn’t Star Wars‘ only great bad guy. Emperor Palpatine is as evil as they come, ruling the galaxy with an iron fist after tearing down the Republic, while his first apprentice, Maul, does his fair share of damage on his way to becoming Obi-Wan Kenobi’s rival.
Videos by ComicBook.com
What Vader, Maul, and Palpatine all have in common is that they have live-action appearances. That’s not to say animated shows or comic books are less meaningful, but there’s something special about seeing a realistic-looking villain. A few major Star Wars evildoers have yet to receive that honor despite striking fear in hearts all over the franchise.
1) Asajj Ventress
Count Dooku brings in some help during the Clone Wars in the form of Asajj Ventress, a Dathomirian Nightsister who proves to be effective with a lightsaber. She gives Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker a run for their money on numerous occasions before Dooku abandons her.
After losing her family on Dathomir, Ventress turns over a new leaf, traveling the galaxy as a bounty hunter and forming a bond with Jedi Quinlan Vos. With Ventress headlining her own series, Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, it might only be a matter of time before she makes the jump to live-action.
2) Savage Opress
Savage Opress and Ventress have a lot in common, being from Dathomir and serving Dooku during the Clone Wars. Their paths diverge, though, once Opress realizes that Ventress is using him. He begins searching for his brother, Maul, who teaches him more about the dark side.
Maul forces his brother to be part of his quest for revenge against Obi-Wan, which ends in disaster. Palpatine eventually catches up to his former apprentice and kills Opress, who dies for a cause he didn’t ask to be part of. The only way Opress makes it to live-action is if Star Wars explores his days on Dathomir.
3) Starkiller
Darth Vader takes on an apprentice in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games, taking in a young Galen Marek after killing his father. Dubbed Starkiller, the young Force user goes around the galaxy taking out threats to the Empire. However, he quickly learns that he’s not on the right side of history.
The big thing keeping Starkiller from showing up in a live-action TV show or movie is that the games he appears in aren’t canon. But if the powers that be at Lucasfilm decide to use Galen Marek’s name instead of his story, they could give him a role somewhere in the franchise.
4) Darth Bane
Thousands of years before the fall of the Republic, the Jedi and Sith fought in a massive conflict that claimed the lives of nearly all of the Sith. The only survivor was Darth Bane, who rebuilt the dark side’s army and created the Rule of Two, which only allowed two Sith to be active at a time.
There have been very few Star Wars projects that take place early enough to show Darth Bane’s life. However, times are changing with James Mangold’s Jedi Order origin movie, which could open the door for the iconic Sith to get his moment in the sun.
5) Darth Revan
Predating Darth Bane is Darth Revan, who was originally a Jedi before discovering the new Sith Empire and falling to the dark side’s influence. The story plays out in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video games, and while Revan eventually goes back to the light side, he’s a great villain.
There have been rumors of a Knights of the Old Republic movie for years, but they’ve never come to fruition. Lucasfilm would be smart to consider retelling Revan’s story on the big screen, though, as it’s one of the franchise’s best.
6) Darth Talon
Legends canon is full of fascinating villains, and one of them is the Twi’lek Sith Darth Talon. She’s a member of the New Sith Order and operates a century after the Battle of Yavin, and her most important mission is to turn Cade Skywalker to the dark side.
Outside of the sequel trilogy, current Star Wars canon doesn’t spend much time exploring the decades after the fall of the Empire. Fortunately, Star Wars isn’t going to run out of opportunities to bring its first Sith Lady to life.
7) The Son
Star Wars: The Clone Wars‘ Mortis arc explores the planet that’s strong with the Force and introduces its inhabitants, the Father, the Daughter, and the Son. The Son doesn’t get along with his family members and attempts to turn Anakin Skywalker to the dark side so he can escape from Mortis.
The Son’s plan fails, and he dies at the hands of the Chosen One. However, Mortis has a rich history, so Star Wars could easily return to the planet and touch on the villain’s past. Maybe Ahsoka Season 2 will lay the seeds for the Son’s live-action debut.
Which of these Star Wars villains would you like to see in live-action? Are there any other bad guys who should make the jump? Let us know in the comments below!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Courtesy of Marvel
