Dooku’s dark disciple is back and, of course, she’s bringing her iconic voice actor along with her.
Ever since 2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, Asajj Ventress has been brought to life by the incredible Nika Futterman. Futterman, who has voiced many characters in the galaxy, including Shaeeah Lawquane and Sy Snootles, has always felt especially connected to the Sith apprentice, as she relates to StarWars.com: “I feel like I have become her. We are one.”
But since the end of The Clone Wars, Ventress did not appear again in the animated shows for many years. “I was under the covers for ten years, crying, saying, ‘Why did it end! We didn’t even finish my story!’” Futterman says.
One of the ways that fans experienced some “closure” for her character’s story was in the acclaimed Star Wars: Dark Disciple, a canon novel written by Christie Golden and based on eight, never released Clone Wars episodes. The book traced the relationship of Ventress and Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos, and ended with Ventress sacrificing herself for the greater good. But now she’s back… and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld will help explain how.
Fans already got a small dose of a post-Order 66 Ventress in the final season of Star Wars: The Bad Batch (which the voice actress coyly refers to as an “appetizer”). And now it’s time for more. As Futterman joyfully tells StarWars.com: “After The Bad Batch, they told me they had this little idea for an ‘entree’.”
The full six episodes of Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld arrive on Star Wars Day, May the 4th, but you can watch the first two installments now via a special Fortnite event for a preview of Ventress’ next chapter. Alongside a trio of episodes featuring bounty hunter Cad Bane, the latest season of the animated anthology includes three episodes that trace Asajj’s journey from Dark Disciple back to the land of the living, as well as her post-Order 66 bounty hunting adventures. This format gives Ventress (and Futterman) the opportunity to grow the character even more: “We’ve spent all these years knowing her as a bad guy who was definitely multi-layered but didn’t show a softer side. I don’t want to say she has become soft, but we explore a side of her besides the lone wolf road warrior that we’re familiar with.”
It is her aforementioned relationship with Vos that serves as an interesting catalyst for this new characterization. As Futterman explains, “No matter how hard she tries now, she can no longer just be dark. Anyone who has experienced love can no longer just be dark. Everything was already there lurking below the surface.”
Also just below the surface was Futterman’s relationship to the character. Was it easy for her to step right back into those leather boots? “I’ve really gone from just feeling and imagining, to doing more research into her. It was a quick jump back into being who she is.”
One key difference in the new series came with Ventress’ menacing voice, which is still familiar, but showcases the growth of the character. “Because it had been so long, [the voice] was one of the first things I talked to Dave Filoni about when I came back,” said Futterman. “When I first started with her, she was very regal. She’ll always have a little bit of that, because she’s witchy and Dathmorian, but now there’s a new edge to her. She still has the guttural, deep, dark voice, but now with a little less of the lilt.”
The trailer for Tales of the Underworld promises a new look at Asajj Ventress, shown facing off against a new Inquisitor, wielding the curved yellow lightsaber made famous in the Dark Disciple novel, and… protecting a youngling? But do not mistake this “new” side of Ventress as a warm, matronly figure. Futterman stresses the word caretaker: “We just couldn’t see it, based on the dastardly nature of her storyline. She was never able to explore the softer part of herself before, because that would be too painful.”
That all has (seemingly) changed. What will come next for Ventress? Is there more to her story to tell? For now, Futterman and devoted Ventress fans hold out hope that this won’t be the last time we see her on screen. “Let’s do it, baby,” Futterman says. “It seems that everybody loves her and wants more.”
