A Fan-Favorite Character Stole Durge's Spot In Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Genndy Tartakovsky's "Clone Wars" is one of the best things to ever happen to "Star Wars." The micro-series gave us a vision of the Jedi as they saw themselves; as people thought the Jedi were; the version of the Jedi a young Anakin had in mind when he first met Qui-Gon Jinn — superhuman, invincible, god-like. Even 20 years later, there's nothing quite like it.
One of the best things the show did was bring the character of Durge over from the comics to the animated series. Durge is an alien bounty hunter with regenerative powers who fights Obi-Wan in one of the best episodes of "Clone Wars," an episode full of body horror and even a sequence inspired by anime masterpiece "Akira."
It's a shame that neither the character nor the show are considered canon by Lucasfilm and Disney.
When it came time to create a new "Clone Wars" cartoon, George Lucas brought other elements from Tartakovsky's show, which introduced Grievous before the movies and made him a truly terrifying monster, but also introduced Asajj Ventress, who continues to be a fan favorite. But Durge? Sadly, no.
As head writer Henry Gilroy said to /Film over email, the plan was to bring Durge over, adapting him to the new show.
"We thought the tentacle powers and ability to turn into a puddle was too over the top, so we redesigned him as human," Gilroy said. Dave Filoni then came up with a new design, with the armor and helmet reminiscent of WWII Germany. "We wanted to get the gruff-voiced Lance Henriksen to do the voice of the character."
So what happened? George Lucas, of course.
The rise of a bounty hunter
According to Gilroy, Lucas decided to rename the character Cad Bane and give him a little hat, too. The creator wanted Bane to be a less armored villain and more like the spaghetti westerns that inspired the original "Star Wars" trilogy. Specifically, he wanted him to be more like Lee Van Cleef's character Angel Eyes from Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly," which Lucas loved.
"I had described him as a bounty hunter who was a bounty hunter BEFORE the Clone Wars, so he was already prepared to face Jedi in battle," Gilroy said. "I gave him an array of weapons/tools specifically designed to counter a Jedi's power ... Like the rocket boots to counter their 'Force Leap'. His breathing apparatus would protect him against poison gas bombs he used against Jedi. He originally had a cortosis 'ray shield' gauntlet that could block a lightsaber blade. He also had a wrist-mounted dart launcher and the darts would explode when blocked by a lightsaber blade, inflicting damage to the Jedi."
Much like the fight between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan instantly made the former cooler due to all the anti-Jedi weapons and gadgets he had, Cad Bane's weapons and gadgets make him instantly memorable. Much to the credit of Lucas, Gilroy, and Filoni, Cad Bane ended up being a huge hit and even made the jump to live-action in "The Book of Boba Fett."
As for Durge the immortal bounty hunter, fear not, he eventually made it to "Star Wars" canon ... in the comics.