By George & Josh Bate
After initially making her debut in the 2003 Legends animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress sliced her way into canon in the 2008 film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Once the lead assassin for Count Dooku, Ventress evolved over the seasons of the show and became a favorite among fans. The novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden continued the character’s journey after the cancellation of The Clone Wars, before Ventress made an unexpected return from the dead in The Bad Batch Season 3. Now, the Dathomirian Nightsister takes centerstage in her own animated series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld, debuting May 4 on Disney+.
Since 2008, Ventress has been played by Nika Futterman, who has provided by the character with her iconic voice and overseen her journey across a number of arcs and shows. Recently, Star Wars Holocron and The HoloFiles had the opportunity to interview Futterman ahead of Tales of the Underworld, alongside our friends at Skywalking Through Neverland, Star Wars Explained, Ion Cannon, Full of Sith, Skytalkers, and Fangirls Gone Rogue. In the interview, Futterman discusses her journey with Ventress over the past 17 years, how Ventress has changed since The Clone Wars, working with Dave Filoni, her reaction to Dark Disciple, and more.
Tales of the Underworld finds Ventress in a decidedly different place in her life than when the world was introduced to her in The Clone Wars. Futterman explained how Ventress in the new series is different from the Ventress of old. “I thought of her as this kind of powerful, regal human [in The Clone Wars], even though she was never actually regal or a queen, she’s more of a witch,” Futterman explained. “And then, now that’s she kind of gone through life and gone through all of her more hardships and a whole lifelong filled story of difficulty. Starting off with The Bad Batch and doing [Tales of the Underworld], Dave [Filoni] and I kind of thought like, ‘Maybe we tone back a little less of the regal, and do more of the sort of, you know, road, weary life, wear woman of the street.”
Ventress’ story was cut short when The Clone Wars was initially cancelled, forcing the rest of her planned journey in that series to be told in literary form with the novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden. “That really messed me up,” Futterman remarked about the story of Dark Disciple, which sees Ventress fall in love with Jedi Quinlan Vos before tragically meeting her demise.
With Tales of the Underworld though, Futterman had the chance to continue the story of a character she knew had more mileage in her. “I was bummed when her story got short when they stopped The Clone Wars and I wasn’t in the last season,” Futterman commented. “I just felt like she had so many more stories to have told about her that we had just started scratching the surface of who and what she does, and why her whole life had made her who she was and what that could mean for her future.”
The future Futterman describes sees Ventress take on a completely different role in Tales of the Underworld – the role of a mentor. “There’s this part of her that is connecting with maybe being okay with occasionally being a protector, instead of just a killer, which is really easy for her.” Futterman continued, “Here’s an opportunity for Asajj to protect and care in a way that she hasn’t yet and so it’s like a buddy movie.”
However, Futterman noted that there is still some of the old Ventress left in her at this point. “I still think she likes a little revenge,” said Futterman.
Revenge is something that comes easy for Ventress. The same can be said about another notorious Dathomirian – Maul. Futterman took some time to compare Ventress to Maul as both characters are from the same home world, trained in the dark side, and have a journey that spans many years and several shows. “[Ventress has] done the flip flop a lot,” Futterman described. “She has been part of the Force, been part of the Jedi, been part of the dark side, been part of everything. And she’s female. So, at some point, I feel like there has to be some kind of self-reflection that may be harder for [Maul], because he’s a dude…He needs to go to therapy [laughs].”
In working on Tales of the Underworld, Futterman had the chance to collaborate once again with Dave Filoni. “I scored big when I started with Dave back so many years ago, to work with someone who’s such a genius, but also such an incredible nerd himself,” Futterman detailed. “Who’s so into it, just like everyone else. I mean that it’s his whole life and his whole heart.”
Futterman went on to describe what it is like to record dialogue for Ventress under Filoni’s direction. “If you’ve ever been in a session with Dave, he will talk for like an hour and a half before you ever record anything and, you know, just go deep,” she said. “Go really deep.”
For those who have seen Tales of the Underworld [spoilers ahead], the Ventress shorts hint that more is to come of Futterman’s fan favorite character. Futterman touched on the possibility of continuing to play Ventress in the future, stating, “I don’t want to say ‘finish,’ because I never want her to end.” Futterman’s sentiment is one that is shared by many Star Wars fans, who keep their fingers crossed that a full-fledged Ventress series could arrive one day. In the meantime, three brand new shorts dive deeper into Ventress’ character and fill in gaps in her long-running story.
Listen to the full roundtable interview with Nika Futterman below….
