Star Wars has spent a lot of time looking back at the Skywalker story, and that is understandable given how much of the franchise has been built around that family.
But the galaxy far far away is too big to keep returning to the same names forever. Some of the most interesting Star Wars characters are the ones who sit just outside the main story, either appearing briefly in the films or being developed properly in animation before never quite getting the live-action focus they deserve.
That is why spin-offs can work so well when Star Wars gets them right, The Mandalorian proved that fans were willing to follow a story away from the Skywalker saga, while Andor showed that the franchise can become richer when it slows down and looks at the people caught inside the wider conflict.
That broader approach reflects the way modern audiences consume entertainment, often moving between reviews, fan theories and explainers on completely different subjects, from television franchises to searches such as what is matched betting, depending on their interests.
There are plenty of characters in the wider universe who could carry the weight of that kind of project. Some need their story expanded, while others deserve a proper second chance after being underused the first time around.
Finn
Finn should have been one of the most exciting and complex characters within the sequel trilogy. The idea of a stormtrooper breaking away from the First Order had so much potential, especially because it gave Star Wars a chance to explore the human cost of its faceless armies. For years, stormtroopers had mostly been treated as bodies in white armour. Finn gave that idea a face.
The Force Awakens set him up brilliantly as a character that was both frightened, funny and clearly still figuring out who he wanted to be. The film also teased something bigger with his possible Force-sensitivity, especially when he used Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber and stood his ground against Kylo Ren. The problem is that the later films never really followed through with that at all.
A Finn spin-off could fix that by giving him the story the sequels only hinted at and could explore what happens to former stormtroopers after the First Order falls, while also finally dealing properly with whether Finn actually has a connection to the Force. That would be more than just fan service. It would be a way to take one of the sequel trilogy’s best ideas and actually finish it.
Padmé Amidala
Padmé Amidala is one of the most important characters in the prequel era, but her screen story still feels frustratingly incomplete. She begins as a young queen trying to save Naboo and later becomes a senator trying to hold the Republic together while it collapses around her.
On paper, that should make her one of the strongest political characters in Star Wars. Yet by the end of Revenge of the Sith, so much of her story is reduced to Anakin’s fall which never felt quite fair.
A Padmé spin-off could give her back some of that agency and could focus on her time as queen, her work in the Senate or the network of handmaidens who helped protect her in ways the films only briefly showed. There is a much more interesting story there than simply making her the person Anakin loves and loses.
Natalie Portman returning would obviously make it feel bigger, but even without that, Padmé is strong enough as a character to deserve another look. Star Wars has spent years exploring warriors and smugglers, but Padmé’s world of politics, danger and quiet resistance could offer something different.
Mace Windu
Mace Windu has always felt like a character Star Wars never used enough despite Samuel L Jackson giving him instant presence, and the purple lightsaber made him stand out before you even got into the details of the character. But beneath that, Mace was also one of the most interesting Jedi because he did not always feel as calm or detached as the Order claimed to be.
He was very wise and disciplined, but the clearly powerful always had a harder edge to him than others. That is exactly why a spin-off could work rather than bringing him back after Revenge of the Sith, which would risk making his ending feel cheaper, the better route would be to explore his earlier years in the Jedi Order.
A show set before the events of The Phantom Menace could look at how Mace became one of the most respected Jedi of his time. It could also explore his relationship with the dark side, especially because he always seemed closer to understanding its pull than many of the other masters. Mace does not need a redemption story, instead he deserves a proper in depth character study.
Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress is one of the best characters to come out of The Clone Wars, and it still feels strange that she has not had a bigger role on screen. She started as Count Dooku’s assassin, but what made her interesting was the way she kept being forced to rebuild herself.
Dooku used her and discarded her, the Sith never fully accepted her, and the Jedi were never going to see her as anything other than an enemy. That left Ventress in the middle, which is often where Star Wars characters become most interesting. Her story has tragedy and anger running through it as well as survival.
She reconnects with the Nightsisters of Dathomir, becomes a bounty hunter and gradually moves away from being simply another dark side villain. That gives her a much richer arc than some characters who have had far more screen time.
A Ventress spin-off could lean into the darker corners of the galaxy without needing to become another Sith story. It could explore the bounty hunting world, Dathomir and the aftermath of being shaped by people who only ever saw her as a weapon. She is exactly the kind of character who could carry a more mature Star Wars series.