Star Wars Almost Debuted A 'Dead' Race Of Nasty Alien Masochists

Ever since "Star Wars" reformed its canon following the franchise's rebirth at the hands of Disney, veteran fans of the series have waited for some of their favorite legacy concepts to re-emergence. While certain elements like Grand Admiral Thrawn have been brought back into the canon in a new form, some popular creations have yet to return. Case in point: the Yuuzhan Vong, a race of extragalactic warrior aliens originating from the "Star Wars: The New Jedi Order" book series. With a frightening mix of powerful organic weaponry, resistance to the Force, and masochistic tendencies, the Yuuzhan Vong stands as one of the biggest ever threats to the galaxy far, far away — or, at least, they were before they were de-canonized.

As it turns out, if one particular scrapped plan for an episode of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" had pushed forward, it actually would have ensured the Yuuzhan Vong's place in the current canon. During a panel titled The Untold Clone Wars for Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" creator Dave Filoni unveiled concept art that confirmed there were once plans to feature the Yuuzhan Vong in an episode of the animated series before its original cancellation. "We were working on a story that involved the Vong in a very minimal way," Filoni explained. "It was kind of a scout ship that was trying to assess the strength of the Republic and what Jedi were and it got a little bit into that. It was pretty creepy."

The Yuuzhan Vong's Clone Wars episode would have been interesting, but fans are still hoping for a return

During the Untold Clone Wars panel, "Star Wars" canon consultant Pablo Hidalgo further elaborated on what the Yuuzhan Vong's "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" episode would have looked like. "The story really played on the alien abduction vibe," he explained. "It was almost like an 'X-Files' episode of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars.'"

As compelling as that idea may sound, it seems that the team had other priorities when "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" was revived for an additional season in 2020. Season 7 of the series doesn't feature the Yuuzhan Vong in any capacity, and they haven't been referenced in any other canon "Star Wars" works since then.

Nonetheless, diehard fans are hoping that the Yuuzhan Vong will eventually show up again. One recent theory related to the Disney+ series "Ahsoka" had some viewers positing that the ancient evil Baylan Skoll senses on the extragalactic planet of Peridea in the series, is, in fact, the Yuuzhan Vong. That particular theory hasn't borne any fruit, but with the Yuuzhan Vong still clearly in the back of the mind of both "Star Wars" fans and creators like Dave Filoni, it seems like only a matter of time until they make their terrifying re-emergence.