The Creator Of One Iconic Star Wars Villain Is Ready For A Comeback
Genndy Tartakovsky says returning to one Clone Wars character would be an “interesting conversation.”
In 2003, just one year after Attack of the Clones, a character originally designed for that movie was given new life in animated form. Artist Dermot Power created a sketch of a very specific type of Sith Lord for Attack of the Clones, but when Count Dooku became the Sith baddie of that movie, this other warrior was reborn as Dooku’s secret operative in the first animated version of Clone Wars. Developed and directed by beloved animator Genndy Tartakovsky, Clone Wars gave life to the character of Asajj Ventress, which had a lasting impact not just on the era of The Clone Wars, but on Star Wars canon in general.
Recently, Inverse caught up with Tartakovsky to discuss his latest animated film, Fixed, but we also managed to wax nostalgic about the Force with him, and asked him if he could ever return to the Sith villain he helped bring to life.
“Asajj, they gave us just a drawing of her, and that's all we had, so we had to figure out what could be her shtick and her story,” Tartakovsky says, referencing the concept art that initially sparked the character. “Any type of character creation, if it lasts, is amazing.”
The ‘Clone Wars’ in 2003.
Tartakovsky also reflected on the fact that this past March marked 20 years since his version of Clone Wars ended, an incredible epic that led directly into the opening moments of Revenge of the Sith. Today, the events of Clone Wars are regarded as apocryphal, replaced by the now canonical 3D animated series that followed in 2008, The Clone Wars. And yet, Tartakovsky is still proud of his take and reveals that he thinks the success of the first Clone Wars was a crucial turning point in how George Lucas viewed Star Wars.
“Because it was a success, it kind of opened the door for George [Lucas] to be okay with other people doing Star Wars,” Tartakovsky says. “Because before that, nobody really could do it, and he didn't trust anybody. So, we were successful, and it almost opened the door to what it is now, with so many projects that other people are working on. We did it first in a way, and we didn’t mess it up.”
Would Tartakovsky ever return to Star Wars? Because Asajj Ventress has made such a big comeback in animated projects like The Bad Batch and Tales of the Underworld, it seems like only a matter of time before the former Sith warrior appears in live action. How would Tartakovsky feel about that?
“If she becomes live action, super cool,” he says, and then adds. “And, if they ask me to do it, that would be an interesting conversation.”
