Star Wars Animated Characters We Want To See In Live-Action

In 2008, Star Wars: The Clone Wars arrived to break open a whole new frontier of canonical Star Wars storytelling. Since then, animation has remained a key part of the Star Wars universe, introducing new planets, storylines, and characters across several different eras of galactic history. Even among all those new creations over dozens of hours of television, some characters have risen so high in the esteem of Star Wars fans that it doesn't feel like animation is enough to contain them anymore.

Numerous Star Wars characters, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, have leaped from live-action to animation over the years, and it's high time that more animated characters got the live-action treatment, particularly the stars and standout supporting characters that made those animated series so vital. From renegade Jedi to bounty hunters to the most honorable Clone Trooper ever, here are some Star Wars animated characters we'd love to see in live-action.

Bounty hunters have always been welcome in live-action Star Wars storytelling, and audiences have come to revere the really interesting ones, even if they're only interesting because of their looks. Boba Fett and IG-88 became fan favorites after the original trilogy, and Fett's popularity in particular helped spur the growth of Mandalorian mythology in Star Wars canon, which has now led to the live-action series The Mandalorian.

Thanks to that show's success, it stands to reason that we could be seeing more bounty hunters pop up in live-action soon, and if that's the case, Cad Bane is a very solid candidate to make the jump. For one thing, his look — from the hat to the guns to the tubes connected to his face — is spectacular, and would allow him to fit right in with the space-western aesthetic of The Mandalorian. For another, his time on The Clone Wars means that he's had a good bit more color added to him than many of the more one-dimensional bounty hunter characters. That said, there's still more about Cad to explore, and live-action could be the place to do it.

Asajj Ventress debuted (canonically, anyway) in The Clone Wars feature film as the apprentice and resident assassin working under the leadership of Count Dooku, and she soon went on to become one of the most beloved and compelling characters in the animated series. Ventress' complexity quickly became evident as her role on the show evolved, and we got to watch her go from assassin to disgraced apprentice to bounty hunter, with a detour to her home planet of Dathomir in between. As a result, we've seen quite a bit of her life play out already, but that doesn't mean she couldn't have some fun in live-action.

After the Clone Wars series concluded, Ventress' final days were described in the novel Dark Disciple, so we already know how her path ends. That said, an adaptation of elements of that book wouldn't be out of the question, and neither would a story exploring Ventress' life in the days before the Clone Wars. The path to her dual lightsaber-wielding self could be just as interesting as her time as an assassin.

The Star Wars animated series are an opportunity to create rich, diverse casts of characters across dozens of hours of television, and as a result a great many interesting personalities emerge who are only glimpsed for a matter of minutes. Then there are those characters who seem to live their entire lives before our eyes, including their deaths.

That seems to be the case with Kanan Jarrus, the Jedi Padawan who managed to survive Order 66 and live to join the resistance against the Empire in Star Wars Rebels. When we first meet Kanan, he's a Force user who's re-emerging as a potential rebuilder of the Jedi Order by agreeing to train Ezra. Over the course of the series we see Kanan's maturity as a master, his struggle with the Rebellion, and even his blindness. Thanks to tie-in media like comics and novels, we've also seen a great deal of his time before Rebels play out, including flashbacks to his years as a Padawan.

So, at first glance it might seem like there's nothing like for Kanan to offer Star Wars in live-action, but live-action appearances don't have to be leading roles. Seeing Kanan emerge in a supporting role, or even a cameo appearance would be a thrill for Rebels fans.

Sabine Wren is one of those characters with a ton of storytelling potential in no small part because of the slightly different point of view she managed to inject when she first appeared in Star Wars Rebels. For one thing, she's a Mandalorian, and until recently she was one of the most prominent ones in canon. For another, she's a street artist and gifted inventor, which gives her the kind of creative perspective that a great many other Star Wars characters have just never had. As a result, she leads a fascinating life with a rich history over the course of Rebels, and ends that series with lots of potential for new adventures.

As for how she could pop up in live-action... well, Sabine could join another famous Mandalorian on the TV show he's starring in, particularly since she has a clear connection to the Darksaber that wound up in The Mandalorian's first season finale. She could also simply pop up in any number of stories that are woven into the original trilogy in some way, and even have a life after that. The future feels wide open for her in a lot of ways.