I've been following this forever and am still so impressed with how the final episode turned out. Super well done! I'll try to send some traffic your way!
@@captainbritain7379 George Lucas was cool about fan films. If they started doing anything differently there would be a huge uproar (just because of how large the ST "fandom" is)
Y'all forget that George Lucas himself didn't think much of the Star Wars EU. Star Wars is not a public property, it's private. It was owned by Lucas, and is now owned by Disney. It is not owned by the fans. The prequels and the Clone Wars cartoon that Lucas had a hand in both contradicted the EU. Stop complaining that Disney doesn't take the EU seriously when Lucas himself didn't. Besides, Disney is reviving parts of the EU. Just not what came after the main trilogy. A lot of the EU is fairly cringy anyhow. Force immune aliens from another galaxy that want to destroy all technology? Palpatine clones that Palpatine's ghost can re-enter? Seriously? Is that what you want in Star Wars? Ffs man. Much of the EU is cringe. That's why Disney did away with a lot of it, and are picking and choosing which parts of it that they want to keep, while getting rid of all the junk.
Gotta love how Billy Dee Williams always seemed the most happy & willing to reprise his iconic Star Wars character, from video games to even Robot Chicken parodies.
I don't even know if anyone else has ever voiced Lando, since Williams is always up for playing him. Voiced himself in everything from Jedi Outcast to Robot Chicken.
@@GentleHeretic He was voiced by Arye Gross in the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi and by Bob Davis in the radio drama Dark Forces: Soldier For the Empire.
As a defender of Dark Empire, thank you for making this cartoon. Despite it's cartoony exterior, you managed to blend that style beautifully with the more darker gothic style of Dark Empire. As a hardcore classic Expanded Universe I wish to say thank you, and May the Force be with you in your endeavors to make future episodes. Always
I can't believe people actually hate Dark Empire. What else do they hate, fun? The Emperor and Luke needed a final showdown. Last time they were cheated out of that by Darth Vader. They needed to have a fair fight between the most hopeful person in the saga and the most hopeless and evil one. They needed to have a showdown. And this was it.
@@HolyknightVader999 A lot of fans hate Dark Empire for various reasons, note I don't agree with these opinions, I am just stating what most of the hardcore EU fans think of Dark Empire. 1. Luke pretending to fall to the dark side to inflitrate the Emperor's inner circle comes off as out of character. 2. Cheesy dialogue 3. The Emperor being revived invalidates Vader's sacrifice and the emotional weight it had. 4. The artwork is an acquired taste, some fans find it hard to look at, compared to modern Star Wars comics. 5. The over the top nature of Palpatine's Force Storms. 6. The galaxy gun being a lame superweapon. 7. Palpatine being defeated again in an anti-climatic way.
@@thedarklord8388 Still, most of these reasons are just horseshit. 1) Not really, since it's only out of character if he became truly evil, which he didn't. Yoda didn't teach him much about the Dark Side, so it's natural he wants to know how it works first now that someone is wielding it to great effect. 2) The whole series is cheeseball dialogue. 3) No, since Vader did it to save Luke and help win the Battle of Endor, which it did. It also bought time for Luke to get stronger. Also, the new trilogy undid Vader's sacrifice anyways, since the Jedi remained dead, whereas in Dark Empire and subsequent EU works, the Jedi return for good. 4) The art looks fine for the age it came out in. 5) Yet nobody complained when Nihilus and Vitiate destroyed whole planets or when Naga Sadow torched whole star systems. 6) How is it lame? It's a sensible superweapon when compared to Starkiller base, using a hyperspace warhead to hit targets from across the galaxy. 7) He was defeated several times, and the last defeat was very meaningful. These "fans" are just spoiled brats, if you ask me...........
@@jimjam7928 The "that" part of your statement is what's wrong with it. But fair enough, the movie does have it's moments. I was SHOCKED with the Holdo maneuver and on screen with Dolby Atmos was fantastic!
@@omarcrespo77 my favorite moment in the last jedi was after the credits when the screen went black Disney really nailed it i wish everything disney did was that epic...
This is how a Starwars film should be, I don't like the cartooney artstyle but it's so well done as a fan made project, and I can understand why the this art style was chosen otherwise this project could have taken too many years to complete. Otherall Dark Empire and the Thrawn Trilogy is what I wanted for a Sequel Trilogy and this does it justice. Thankyou for creating this, I wish we could get this in the original style but you've done a great job in getting it close enough to the comic. All the characters voices were spot on or close enough, that Lando voice was Epic! Thankyou Wilkins animation you did a great job on this, so good for a fan project, A Tier quality!
@@coronaman-9478 Yeah either do I, put for the cartoon, it was done so the project could be completed. I think this would look great though in a Clones Wars or Rebels look if they did animated Legends stories.
@@coronaman-9478 I could be wrong but it seems like the animation was designed in the style of the animated sequence from the Star Wars Christmas Special. If you've never seen it you're lucky but also, if you watch any part of that monstrosity it's the animated part.
I've already shared it in two no 3 discords now. No wait 4.. Anyway, two outa the 4 have specfic star wars channels. Hopefully it helps some! Because this project is insane and I REALLY WANNA SEE AN EPISODE 2 OF IT! xD
Wow, it's been an eternity since I listened to the Dark Empire radio plays, and hearing these voice actors (and Billy Dee Williams in his eternal brand loyalty) makes me feel like a kid again. Love the pulpy, comic-book color palette in particular, and it's legitimately awesome to see Prequel-Era droids mixed in with Rebels and Stormtroopers, just feels right. Excited for the next episode!
@@anumeon Now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember that voice being really good. I need to re-listen to the drama again, the only two things I can remember are 1) Palpatine having clones and 2) Luke turning a sith apprentice into a Jedi with a snap of his fingers which felt weird, even as a kid.
Don’t read Dark empire 3 it sucks and the art takes a downgrade for the worst and the story sucks in that just get 1 and 2. And I’m talking about getting them in graphic novel form.
It's a damn shame that we never got to see at least one official EU film in all the years it existed. Got shit ton of games but not one movie. George knew what he was doing for the long game... 😒
This is amazing work! I’m not an EU guy, I dabbled in it when I was a lad. I am vaguely familiar with this material. Your art style is just great! Brings out the feels in a dusty old fossil like me Seeing Han, Chewie, Liea and Lando squaring off against prequel battledroids. Amazing. This has me hungry for more Star Wars in a way I didn’t think possible. Disney has made me sick of Star Wars. Made me hate Star Wars... This is what it used to be. What it used to feel like. Thank you.
godhump222 “I have plans for EU fans like you, and I gonna create the Dark Nest trilogy by turning three novel books into animation movies with the 2003 Clone Wars art style. Besides if anyone can do it, so am I.”
I sincerely hope fans like you are the future of star-wars, I really love the franchise and the epic war drama that it presents. Between strong character interaction, showing us the continued love and support the heroes have for each-other, and the focus on how the current conflicts in star wars often defines what choices characters do and do not have, I feel that you've captured the spirit of what new star-wars has attempted to be about without sacrificing from the original cannon; an excellent use of the Extended Universe by my standards!
Awesome adaptation! Does feel reminiscent of the Star Wars Christmas Special animation style which was very fluid for 1979, and I am impressed with the use of the Dark Empire Audio and image art stylings that compliment the Dark Horse Comics adaptation. Keep up the great work!
This is incredible. Possibly one of the best fan projects, fan animations, and Star Wars fan films of all time. Genuinely an achievement. So excited for more!
Good god, almost teared at this masterpiece. Great voice acting, great animation. Hope this stays up. Thanks Eck for the tip, thanks everyone in this project! Edit: Oh the voice was from audio.
That actually might be a valid idea. Ever since the original trilogy, it's been hard for people to repeat the magic of the Episodic movies. Until the right people can figure out the right formula for a theatrical episode, we should 1) give the fans some breathing room so they don't have star wars burnout and 2) hold them over with an area that works, that is, television series, animation, and stand alone films. Star Wars has had some success with animated TV shows (I really liked Clone Wars and Rebels, Resistance first season was lacking but the 2nd season looks a little better) and, I would argue, to a lesser extent, stand alone Anthology films (I liked Rogue One, Solo was harmless). So maybe instead of trying to make lightning strike twice, people should focus on seeing Star Wars in other mediums. The universe feels like it gets more fleshed out with the CG series, as does anything with Dave Filoni on it. There's so much background lore to the universe of star wars that deserves exploring, even if it's just for a few minutes in a tv episode. I kinda think that Disney should see how successful DC's animation library is, with it's TV shows and stand alone direct to dvd movies, and follow suite with STar Wars. Make a series based on EU Legends, but if something is really good make a higher quality animated movie of it. Not a lot of fan favorites will become theatrical releases but by doing the DC animation formula, it will be a close 2nd. That way individual movies can be animated by different teams and we see what works best with star wars. The original Thrawn Trilogy, however, does deserve the red carpet treatment. It's the crown jewel of the Eu. It needs to have theatrical release. Perhaps it should be animated with the CG animation that the Old Republic MMORPG had for it's cut scenes. Some people feel like they're getting burned out on too much star wars at once. As much as I would like to see another SW trilogy, I would want it to be done well, and spaced out enough for people to catch their breath and be in the mood for it again. I would want it to be higher quality, and if that mean't waiting, that would be fine with me. In the mean time while they come up with a better movie, focus on animation in a series and stand alone direct to video movies like DC does. There's a lot of ground to cover. Perhaps there should be 2 TV series. One that's focused on what's kid friendly and the other focused on the part of EU that's pretty adult and dark. I know, we'll (mostly) divide it up by Marvel vs Dark Horse! Star Wars Marvel: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker would focus on the marvel comics of star wars (old and new), junior novelizations and books for young people, and most of canon. Star Wars Dark would focus on Dark Horse comics and the more mature and darker elements of Star Wars (like perhaps including the Vong and Dark Nest Crisis) as well as the stories of Vader, Rogue One, etc. Basically a lot of the stories about the villain and anti heroes would be here. There would be some overlap. Sure, most of the Marvel stuff would be kid friendly and most of the Dark Horse stuff would be a bit more serious, but exceptions to every rule. I could see the Canon stuff written in books going either way. But one would feel like somewhere between a prime time drama and saturday morning cartoon, while the other would feel like an adult swim anime. We would divide it accordingly to how dark and mature it is, but generally i could see the former being based mostly off of marvel comics sw and junior novelizations, while the latter would be dark horse and the more mature book series.
@@ACEnBEAKY you have the whole damn future planned out my boy. Good. I've finally found that one EU fan that knows what they'd do if the were on any seat of considerable power at LucasFilms. It bewilders me to this day how over the course of the EU's reign we never got a single movie (live or animated) for any of the stories. You're 100% right on The Thrawn Trilogy getting the red carpet for a purely theatrical releases. And I agree with your idea of having the early Marvel Comics and lighter reads being turned into animated series or movies of their own. What I always envisioned was one day that the most important events in the Expanded Universe would be theatrical while supporting stories and interesting plots outside the main one would be crafted into superb animated films or series like how DC makes their content. Say what you want but DC kicks ass with it's animated movies they be releasing. But you can obviously see their crucial weaknesses when they make anything theatrical or just live in general. Another theory I hold strong to is that Disney and LucasFilms (mostly the latter) didn't want the burden of making movies, animated/live series, or new comics based on the lore ocean that is the Expanded Universe and so devised an insidious plan to reboot the entire franchise but give George Lucas's productions immunity to the wipe. And the plan worked but as we can all see bright as day, this plan has backfired hard. So hard in fact that it's making "poorly written" or "stupid/strange" Legends lore and stories look good. One comes to mind at this moment. Oh wait, I'm watching it...
I second this notion. Perhaps one day when the Star Wars license does become public domain, we can get some animators to make cartoons of entire sagas from the Expanded universe. I even once told someone that if Lucas simply got some anime directors to make anime from Star Wars' EU stories, he would have become rich beyond his wildest dreams. That's what I would have done instead of selling out to Disney.
One of my great fears, before I saw this, was to know that the characters (after what Disney has done), became meaningless to me. I haven´t watch a complete SW movie since TLJ. Watching this make me realize that THE FORCE is still STRONG inside of me. The child inside of me is TRULY happy.
@@josemarcosegurajaubert8108 Yea I know what you mean I gave up on star wars after that movie but eventually I came back to it. Now I just enjoy the stories I like and ignore the ones I don't.
I'll admit, I've never been a fan of resurrecting Palpatine, be it Dark Empire or Rise of Skywalker. That said, I'll gladly put my personal biases aside if it means more amazing work like this! I like how subtle nods to the prequels have been added, such as B1 heads for the scavenger droids and a crashed LAAT as part of the wreckage. It makes the setting feel more interconnected without detracting from the story or art style.
Dark Empire existed before the Chosen One prophecy was established since it came out in the 90s, and at least Luke dealt with Palpatine himself instead of leaving the job to a bunch of nobodies
@@Charstorms Indeed. I recently found out that they used an old audiobook for the animation and that Billy Dee Williams had previously provided his voice for it.
I don’t mind the new canon as much as many others do. But this is the canon I grew up with and love. Great work, it is one of the best fan films I’ve ever seen. I look forward to the next installment.
It's ok to have both canons and be able to appreciate both and what they bring to the table. People acting like the Disney merger is the death of this franchise, especially after the shitshow of the prequels, are ludicrous.
@@jimjam7928 I wish Legends projects like this didn't attract anti-sequels negativity the way it does. Frankly, every complaint people have about them is something the EU was guilty of at least twice over. It's also OK to go for a clean slate and not expect everyone to be up to date on the sprawling, convoluted soap opera that was Skywalker family history in the EU.
@@ultratankie I personally don't like the Disney storyline, but what really annoys me is that they stopped the "Legends" timeline books. They could have continued making them as an alternate reality
I thought the art style was going to throw me off but booooooyyy was I wrong. This is the best damn fan animation I've seen so far. The uniqueness and creative design brings a whole new vision of star wars I can't wait to see the next episode.
Just like SC38 Reimagined, I was here before 5k views. And I hope to heck that this blows up just as much as it did! The voices are amazingly spot-on, and the visual style is a wonderful homage to _Ewoks_ and _Droids._ Looking forwards to seeing more in the future!
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The animation at first I found it jarring, but it does grow on you. It brings to mind older animation styles. The audio needs to be more balenced. Han and leias dialogue I perfectly understood, but other rebels I found difficult to understand what they where saying. Just observations, take them with a grain of salt. I probably could never make something as awesome as this. Excellent work.
During a interview with Junkman he said this took a year to make. There will be 6 episodes. So at this rate 6 years to complete. What can we do to speed this up?
Give this man some money and some helping hands. If we wait 6 years the franchise will already be completely dead and an afterthought after Disney and the current LucasFilms are done with it 😓
As someone who completely hates this comic as one of the worst things in Star Wars... this was amazing. You did a great job, I recognized some of those famous comic scenes and thought you did a great job animating it. I can tell you put a lot of love into this. I wish you guys the best of luck in this project because I would gladly see anything from the Legends universe continue to touch people.
This was impressive work. Animation was reminiscent of the holiday special without being completely horrible. I loved it! Looking forward to seeing more.
Your voice actors, SFX, animation quality is all so good! And the art style just makes me happy :) I hope you’re completely satisfied with how this turned out, because so many of us are! Edit: Using the audio drama was smartest smart. You are smartest cookie.
THIS IS WHAT WE NEEDED. Don't get me wrong i'm a huge Star Wars fan and the Disney cannon is okay. But man this is what I grew up with. Thank you for making this! Keep up the hard work
Excellent. Excellent. You're approaching Dave Feloni and his crews territory. Keep it up. The dark empire was a great story Cam Kennedy , under appreciated.
This is just amazing. Along with DarthAngelus's take on Heir to the Empire, it's like a new golden age for the classic EU stories. You're doing an amazing job, mate, keep up the great work!
Dude you, are a legend Man this was the longest smile ive had in quite some time. Especially for star wars. Thankyou so much for being you dude youre the mountain.
OH MY NOT EVEN POSSIBLE! I WAS JUST AS THRILLED WATCHING THIS AS I WAS WITH THE MOVIES!!!!!!!!! GOOD JOB AND THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!! LUKE WAS SERIOUSLY SOOOO EPIC!!!!!! YOU BLEW MT MIND!!!
Wow, this is awesome! You have real talent. This is way better than all of the sequel trilogy combined. One detail I really liked is how when Luke first appeared, you made his silhouette look a lot like Darth Vader. Nice way to show the relationship between the two and how Luke is filling the shoes of Anakin, and maybe even foreshadowing something more... sinister.
I had a smile on my face watching this yet felt somewhat sad as I realised what could have been. It was nice seeing all our beloved characters together.
What's this? This feeling? New Star Wars content and I care! I didnt think it was possible. In all seriousness this is really good. Great job. I hope y'all keep doing these cause this is amazing.
Man, I absolutely love your work. The style of the final part of the episode is perfectly balanced between cartoon and the original style of the comics. Please continue this. This is the kind of work that Star Wars and the fans really deserve
When 12 minutes and 34 seconds is 100x better than what Disney ever produced with Star Wars. Seriously everything is on point. The characters, the story, seeing factions of the empire fight each other, the voice acting is really well done too.They sound pretty similar to the OG characters. Speaking of OG characters, how they interacted was spot on too. Seeing Leia use the force but not be god when it comes to it and then seeing Luke be a complete badass. God I wish this was a movie. I loved every second of this. PLEASE MAKE MORE!!!
This is so beautiful, true Star Wars. Seeing it moving really shows just how much better it is than anything Disney has done with the sequels. This is genuinely amazing, it brought a tear to my eye how well done it is and that we have this gem! Keep up the good work and I will be sending my monetary support for what it counts.
So this was a fantastic surprise. The voices surprised me how good they were. The style is a mix of the original comics and the holiday special, with a touch of Ralph Bakshi animation. Damn, man, this was built with love.
@@SpikeyTortoise WilkinsAnimations I can't wait to see it. Honestly, I love the style of the animation. Working on some original comics myself. Very hard though considering school work.
I'm sorry, but English is not my mother tongue, so I use the Google translator. Why the beginning of the Dark Empire is better than the Sequel Trilogy: 1. The initial intro looks like a sequel, not "wait, is this a remake?" 2. We immediately see the characters we know. 3. Leia and Han together. 4. An epic panorama of the battle at the beginning, like in episode 3. 5. Leia using force doesn't make you think "WTF was that?" 6. Luke. His appearance is epic, and he immediately shows the level of his progress between episode 6 and this. And he is not dressed like a hobo. 7. The real enemy demonstrates his strength at the very beginning, allowing himself to be taken seriously.
The best way to describe it is: If Only... You sir, had my interest... And now you have my intrigue... Plus, this must have been a huge endevour just to make this... Can't wait to watch episode 2
This is GREAT. I can only imagine how time consuming this must have been. You even animated 3po's face when he talks. I have the comics of this, looking forward to next episode:)
Great job. I am officially more pumped about this than any movie Disney has put out. You are greatly appreciated in these dark times. May the force be with you.
I've been following this forever and am still so impressed with how the final episode turned out. Super well done! I'll try to send some traffic your way!
Thanks so much!
I'm here because of Eck! Love you both!
I’m here due to you. Thanks for the livestream and I’m sad it got taken down for you.
you have very good taist eck. we so need halo 2 beer version with cory looses or drunken empire at war btw
Eck'!!!!
Yeee'haaaw!!!! 😸🚀
We will watch your career with great interest.
Hahahah. Great use of the quote!
Good Good
Lol.
Very good my young apprentice
Fantastic, love it love it love it
I'm loving the old-style cartoon feels. Just like when I was a kid!
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
Dale Erdmann boomer
You realize what boomer means, right?
@@badgerscorner8529 The question is, do you realize who you're calling a boomer?
I didn’t call anyone a boomer
" This is a Non-for profit fan film"
Disney:
*inhale*
Mr Mango they’re actually really cool about fan films.
All star wars fan film are unique
Uniqly greatttt👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@captainbritain7379 That's what Star Wars Theory thought
@@captainbritain7379 George Lucas was cool about fan films. If they started doing anything differently there would be a huge uproar (just because of how large the ST "fandom" is)
TimeWarpDrive 77 Lucasfilm is cool with fanfilms, you just can’t make money off of them
Leia: We’re not leaving you Luke
Rebel Soldier who has been waiting 6 days for pick up: YEAH WE ARE!
I like the irony of Luke telling Han this particular dark side threat can’t be solved by blaster fire. If only he knew.
Haha right turns out allmighty lord of darkness palps gets stopped by a drugsmuggler
@@easygrin1127 who is slightly force sensitive
@@cryptosporidium1375 who? Han??
Now this is pod racing!!
I'll try spinning, thats a good trick!
@@SpikeyTortoise Are you an angel?
Remember, your focus determines your reality.
It warms my heart to see the old EU back
I feel the same
Same here. Cheers from Costa Rica
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
Disney made Star Wars do a Brexit from the EU, lol.
Y'all forget that George Lucas himself didn't think much of the Star Wars EU. Star Wars is not a public property, it's private. It was owned by Lucas, and is now owned by Disney. It is not owned by the fans.
The prequels and the Clone Wars cartoon that Lucas had a hand in both contradicted the EU.
Stop complaining that Disney doesn't take the EU seriously when Lucas himself didn't. Besides, Disney is reviving parts of the EU. Just not what came after the main trilogy.
A lot of the EU is fairly cringy anyhow. Force immune aliens from another galaxy that want to destroy all technology? Palpatine clones that Palpatine's ghost can re-enter? Seriously? Is that what you want in Star Wars? Ffs man.
Much of the EU is cringe. That's why Disney did away with a lot of it, and are picking and choosing which parts of it that they want to keep, while getting rid of all the junk.
Gotta love how Billy Dee Williams always seemed the most happy & willing to reprise his iconic Star Wars character, from video games to even Robot Chicken parodies.
I love how at 8:01, Luke’s silhouette looks like Vader. Great visual foreshadowing for his arc.
its really cool
I love how Billy Dee Williams does the voice
Did he??
Logan Menchaca yep! All the audio you hear is from the recorded Dark Empire audio drama in which Billy did the voice for Lando
@@betitovader That's f'n amazing!
I don't even know if anyone else has ever voiced Lando, since Williams is always up for playing him. Voiced himself in everything from Jedi Outcast to Robot Chicken.
@@GentleHeretic He was voiced by Arye Gross in the radio adaptation of Return of the Jedi and by Bob Davis in the radio drama Dark Forces: Soldier For the Empire.
Damn, Lando's voice is amazing. Sounds just like him.
Because... It is.
It is
@@RandomStuffGarage619 I think he said it as a joke.
Funny, the audio drama this was based off of actually got Billy Dee Williams for the voice, the guy's rarely skipped on reprising Lando!
@@klaatubaradanikto2563 well, he ain't doing much else
As a defender of Dark Empire, thank you for making this cartoon. Despite it's cartoony exterior, you managed to blend that style beautifully with the more darker gothic style of Dark Empire.
As a hardcore classic Expanded Universe I wish to say thank you, and May the Force be with you in your endeavors to make future episodes. Always
I can't believe people actually hate Dark Empire. What else do they hate, fun?
The Emperor and Luke needed a final showdown. Last time they were cheated out of that by Darth Vader. They needed to have a fair fight between the most hopeful person in the saga and the most hopeless and evil one. They needed to have a showdown. And this was it.
@@HolyknightVader999 A lot of fans hate Dark Empire for various reasons, note I don't agree with these opinions, I am just stating what most of the hardcore EU fans think of Dark Empire.
1. Luke pretending to fall to the dark side to inflitrate the Emperor's inner circle comes off as out of character.
2. Cheesy dialogue
3. The Emperor being revived invalidates Vader's sacrifice and the emotional weight it had.
4. The artwork is an acquired taste, some fans find it hard to look at, compared to modern Star Wars comics.
5. The over the top nature of Palpatine's Force Storms.
6. The galaxy gun being a lame superweapon.
7. Palpatine being defeated again in an anti-climatic way.
@@thedarklord8388 Still, most of these reasons are just horseshit.
1) Not really, since it's only out of character if he became truly evil, which he didn't. Yoda didn't teach him much about the Dark Side, so it's natural he wants to know how it works first now that someone is wielding it to great effect.
2) The whole series is cheeseball dialogue.
3) No, since Vader did it to save Luke and help win the Battle of Endor, which it did. It also bought time for Luke to get stronger. Also, the new trilogy undid Vader's sacrifice anyways, since the Jedi remained dead, whereas in Dark Empire and subsequent EU works, the Jedi return for good.
4) The art looks fine for the age it came out in.
5) Yet nobody complained when Nihilus and Vitiate destroyed whole planets or when Naga Sadow torched whole star systems.
6) How is it lame? It's a sensible superweapon when compared to Starkiller base, using a hyperspace warhead to hit targets from across the galaxy.
7) He was defeated several times, and the last defeat was very meaningful.
These "fans" are just spoiled brats, if you ask me...........
@@HolyknightVader999 I love how Star Wars fans complain about cheesy dialogue as if Star Wars didn't always have cheesy dialogue.
@@HolyknightVader999 A lot of SW fans hate Starkiller base as well. Both superweapons being very uncreative alternatives to the Death Star.
The Last Jedi:
Exists
WilkinsAnimations:
So be it... Jedi!
If you will not be decanonised, you will be destroyed!
Give it a rest, The Last Jedi isn't even that bad.
@@jimjam7928 The "that" part of your statement is what's wrong with it. But fair enough, the movie does have it's moments. I was SHOCKED with the Holdo maneuver and on screen with Dolby Atmos was fantastic!
@@jimjam7928 Indeed. It's worse.
@@omarcrespo77 my favorite moment in the last jedi was after the credits when the screen went black Disney really nailed it i wish everything disney did was that epic...
It feels like a 90’s cartoon. Great throwback. It is so awesome. I absolutely love the look of this animation
late 80s every early 90s.
This is one of the best Star Wars fan animations I've ever seen. It's very nostalgic and emulates Cam Kennedy's art style beautifully.
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
It is very unique, especially when trying to balance it out with that old animation feel. They seem to work well together though.
yup, on par with "tie fighter"
@@t4rv0r60 That is some high praise right there...
Son of Luke I agree whole heartedly
I feel so blessed beeing here before this blows up
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
Same man. I cant wait to post my reaction to this!
@@gianlucaborg195 I'm afraid that if it does spread, Disneyfilm will shut it down.
Alan Smith-Emerson I fear so to but he deserves to have it be seen
This.
This is why Star Wars belongs to the Open Domain.
So we can have more of THIS.
Yes! It should be open domain...
Or a whole bunch of porn
@@DimoB8 Why not both?
Disney can claim it all they want, but it'll never be theirs.
Trey Stephens “I will make it legal.”
This is how a Starwars film should be, I don't like the cartooney artstyle but it's so well done as a fan made project, and I can understand why the this art style was chosen otherwise this project could have taken too many years to complete. Otherall Dark Empire and the Thrawn Trilogy is what I wanted for a Sequel Trilogy and this does it justice. Thankyou for creating this, I wish we could get this in the original style but you've done a great job in getting it close enough to the comic. All the characters voices were spot on or close enough, that Lando voice was Epic! Thankyou Wilkins animation you did a great job on this, so good for a fan project, A Tier quality!
I don’t like the faces
@@coronaman-9478 Yeah either do I, put for the cartoon, it was done so the project could be completed. I think this would look great though in a Clones Wars or Rebels look if they did animated Legends stories.
@@coronaman-9478 I could be wrong but it seems like the animation was designed in the style of the animated sequence from the Star Wars Christmas Special. If you've never seen it you're lucky but also, if you watch any part of that monstrosity it's the animated part.
The animation style is based off something.
@@plaguemaster308 It’s based off of the holiday special animated short.
"Forget the canon, keep your eyes on this..."
I wish...
The true episode 7
@@andybilyak I believe you’re mistaking this with something called “Heir to the Empire”.
@@skeeter5566 Fair enough. Imo Dark Empire III kinda sucks booty.
@@ImTheReverse yea this is episode 8 😂
Reminds me of 2003 Clone Wars in a way, but also with the weird twisted style so typical of Dark Empire. It's perfect for Dark Empire.
So it’s true, but weird twisted, indeed.
It is like the 2003 clone wars meets holiday special but so much darker
I love everything about this! Let's spread the word and support this project!
Nicholas Damiani ikr! This is freaking insane!
I've already shared it in two no 3 discords now. No wait 4.. Anyway, two outa the 4 have specfic star wars channels. Hopefully it helps some! Because this project is insane and I REALLY WANNA SEE AN EPISODE 2 OF IT! xD
Wow, it's been an eternity since I listened to the Dark Empire radio plays, and hearing these voice actors (and Billy Dee Williams in his eternal brand loyalty) makes me feel like a kid again. Love the pulpy, comic-book color palette in particular, and it's legitimately awesome to see Prequel-Era droids mixed in with Rebels and Stormtroopers, just feels right. Excited for the next episode!
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
I will need to check out Dark Empire because to me Disney's sequel trilogy has been the biggest let down and joke.
@@troypol343 Check out the Heir to the Empire trilogy -- the real Episode VII, VIII, IX for many fans!
The man who voiced Palpatine in the radio play sure did a decent job as well.
@@anumeon Now that you mention it, I do vaguely remember that voice being really good. I need to re-listen to the drama again, the only two things I can remember are 1) Palpatine having clones and 2) Luke turning a sith apprentice into a Jedi with a snap of his fingers which felt weird, even as a kid.
I'm amazed Disney hasn't used this missed opportunity to animate the old Extended Universe stories!
Makes me want to read the actual Dark Empire comic series.
You should. The art is so deliciously moody, and it's a good story.
Don’t read Dark empire 3 it sucks and the art takes a downgrade for the worst and the story sucks in that just get 1 and 2. And I’m talking about getting them in graphic novel form.
Good luck finding it Disney made that too fucking hard!
@@luckykennedy7364 Actualy there is this website...
@@Ray-yv7kn source
This is the best thing I've ever seen in my whole life. See the EU animated it's so awesome and emotional. Thanks for bring this for us.
It's a damn shame that we never got to see at least one official EU film in all the years it existed. Got shit ton of games but not one movie. George knew what he was doing for the long game... 😒
The Star Wars Trilogy we deserved!
Long live the Expanded universe!
The EU was some of the best parts of the Star Wars franchise.
Finally a fan with common sense...
🎃🍻💀
Better than that disney crap
This story is so trash lol.
Yet it was never Canon to Lucas in the long term.
Beautiful. Seeing all the old characters together, so bittersweet.
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
This is amazing work! I’m not an EU guy, I dabbled in it when I was a lad. I am vaguely familiar with this material. Your art style is just great! Brings out the feels in a dusty old fossil like me
Seeing Han, Chewie, Liea and Lando squaring off against prequel battledroids. Amazing. This has me hungry for more Star Wars in a way I didn’t think possible. Disney has made me sick of Star Wars. Made me hate Star Wars...
This is what it used to be. What it used to feel like. Thank you.
RIP Tom Veitch Dark Empire was a real one. I wish you'd been able to show us all Lightsider.
Fans should make these animations for all of the EU stories.
I’m getting started on a Dark Forces retelling animation. Especially after I did the soundtrack
Can’t wait for the animated version of Death Troopers. I feel like it should have the atmosphere of a George Romero zombie flick
Also adapt to perfection the Crimsom Empire comics in an animated film.
There's a guy making a 3D animation of the Thrawn Trilogy. You should search for Heir to the Empire on YT.
godhump222 “I have plans for EU fans like you, and I gonna create the Dark Nest trilogy by turning three novel books into animation movies with the 2003 Clone Wars art style. Besides if anyone can do it, so am I.”
The animation is beautiful, the music is amazing, it all has a nostalgic feeling. I can't wait to binge the whole series when it's done!
Spread the word man, this deserves tons more views!
It makes Luke seem so much darker than when I read it, and the Force Storm looks great! Well done sir, well done.
I sincerely hope fans like you are the future of star-wars, I really love the franchise and the epic war drama that it presents. Between strong character interaction, showing us the continued love and support the heroes have for each-other, and the focus on how the current conflicts in star wars often defines what choices characters do and do not have, I feel that you've captured the spirit of what new star-wars has attempted to be about without sacrificing from the original cannon; an excellent use of the Extended Universe by my standards!
Awesome adaptation! Does feel reminiscent of the Star Wars Christmas Special animation style which was very fluid for 1979, and I am impressed with the use of the Dark Empire Audio and image art stylings that compliment the Dark Horse Comics adaptation. Keep up the great work!
This is incredible. Possibly one of the best fan projects, fan animations, and Star Wars fan films of all time. Genuinely an achievement. So excited for more!
Timothy Mably excellent work
I read this book a few hundred times as a kid, seeing the imperials fighting each other gave me a ridiculous amount of nostalgia.
I know its from an audio drama - can you raise Han’s voice? Everyone else on the Falcon is so much louder.
The animation is so cool.
Luke: "Save yourself, everyone, this is my destiny"
Everyone leaves
R2: "Finally, after 20 years, a real adventure with a Jedi, on my ass"
Good god, almost teared at this masterpiece. Great voice acting, great animation. Hope this stays up. Thanks Eck for the tip, thanks everyone in this project!
Edit: Oh the voice was from audio.
The future of the EU is animated!
That actually might be a valid idea. Ever since the original trilogy, it's been hard for people to repeat the magic of the Episodic movies.
Until the right people can figure out the right formula for a theatrical episode, we should 1) give the fans some breathing room so they don't have star wars burnout and 2) hold them over with an area that works, that is, television series, animation, and stand alone films.
Star Wars has had some success with animated TV shows (I really liked Clone Wars and Rebels, Resistance first season was lacking but the 2nd season looks a little better) and, I would argue, to a lesser extent, stand alone Anthology films (I liked Rogue One, Solo was harmless).
So maybe instead of trying to make lightning strike twice, people should focus on seeing Star Wars in other mediums. The universe feels like it gets more fleshed out with the CG series, as does anything with Dave Filoni on it. There's so much background lore to the universe of star wars that deserves exploring, even if it's just for a few minutes in a tv episode.
I kinda think that Disney should see how successful DC's animation library is, with it's TV shows and stand alone direct to dvd movies, and follow suite with STar Wars.
Make a series based on EU Legends, but if something is really good make a higher quality animated movie of it. Not a lot of fan favorites will become theatrical releases but by doing the DC animation formula, it will be a close 2nd. That way individual movies can be animated by different teams and we see what works best with star wars. The original Thrawn Trilogy, however, does deserve the red carpet treatment. It's the crown jewel of the Eu. It needs to have theatrical release. Perhaps it should be animated with the CG animation that the Old Republic MMORPG had for it's cut scenes.
Some people feel like they're getting burned out on too much star wars at once. As much as I would like to see another SW trilogy, I would want it to be done well, and spaced out enough for people to catch their breath and be in the mood for it again. I would want it to be higher quality, and if that mean't waiting, that would be fine with me.
In the mean time while they come up with a better movie, focus on animation in a series and stand alone direct to video movies like DC does. There's a lot of ground to cover.
Perhaps there should be 2 TV series. One that's focused on what's kid friendly and the other focused on the part of EU that's pretty adult and dark. I know, we'll (mostly) divide it up by Marvel vs Dark Horse!
Star Wars Marvel: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker would focus on the marvel comics of star wars (old and new), junior novelizations and books for young people, and most of canon.
Star Wars Dark would focus on Dark Horse comics and the more mature and darker elements of Star Wars (like perhaps including the Vong and Dark Nest Crisis) as well as the stories of Vader, Rogue One, etc. Basically a lot of the stories about the villain and anti heroes would be here.
There would be some overlap. Sure, most of the Marvel stuff would be kid friendly and most of the Dark Horse stuff would be a bit more serious, but exceptions to every rule. I could see the Canon stuff written in books going either way. But one would feel like somewhere between a prime time drama and saturday morning cartoon, while the other would feel like an adult swim anime.
We would divide it accordingly to how dark and mature it is, but generally i could see the former being based mostly off of marvel comics sw and junior novelizations, while the latter would be dark horse and the more mature book series.
@@ACEnBEAKY you have the whole damn future planned out my boy. Good. I've finally found that one EU fan that knows what they'd do if the were on any seat of considerable power at LucasFilms. It bewilders me to this day how over the course of the EU's reign we never got a single movie (live or animated) for any of the stories. You're 100% right on The Thrawn Trilogy getting the red carpet for a purely theatrical releases. And I agree with your idea of having the early Marvel Comics and lighter reads being turned into animated series or movies of their own. What I always envisioned was one day that the most important events in the Expanded Universe would be theatrical while supporting stories and interesting plots outside the main one would be crafted into superb animated films or series like how DC makes their content. Say what you want but DC kicks ass with it's animated movies they be releasing. But you can obviously see their crucial weaknesses when they make anything theatrical or just live in general. Another theory I hold strong to is that Disney and LucasFilms (mostly the latter) didn't want the burden of making movies, animated/live series, or new comics based on the lore ocean that is the Expanded Universe and so devised an insidious plan to reboot the entire franchise but give George Lucas's productions immunity to the wipe. And the plan worked but as we can all see bright as day, this plan has backfired hard. So hard in fact that it's making "poorly written" or "stupid/strange" Legends lore and stories look good. One comes to mind at this moment. Oh wait, I'm watching it...
I second this notion. Perhaps one day when the Star Wars license does become public domain, we can get some animators to make cartoons of entire sagas from the Expanded universe. I even once told someone that if Lucas simply got some anime directors to make anime from Star Wars' EU stories, he would have become rich beyond his wildest dreams. That's what I would have done instead of selling out to Disney.
HolyknightVader999 a Star Wars anime of TOR or KOTOR 1 or 2 would make tens of millions in weeks and I believe that's an underestimate...
I hope to see the Yuzzhan Vong in an animated show. The Yuzzhan Vong would also be cool in a video game.
Anyone else get all warm and fuzzy inside when Luke came in? This is great! Please continue doing this!
One of my great fears, before I saw this, was to know that the characters (after what Disney has done), became meaningless to me. I haven´t watch a complete SW movie since TLJ.
Watching this make me realize that THE FORCE is still STRONG inside of me. The child inside of me is TRULY happy.
@@josemarcosegurajaubert8108 Yea I know what you mean I gave up on star wars after that movie but eventually I came back to it. Now I just enjoy the stories I like and ignore the ones I don't.
@@arrowheadwaterbottle6815 Exactly. Return to the EU.
I'll admit, I've never been a fan of resurrecting Palpatine, be it Dark Empire or Rise of Skywalker. That said, I'll gladly put my personal biases aside if it means more amazing work like this!
I like how subtle nods to the prequels have been added, such as B1 heads for the scavenger droids and a crashed LAAT as part of the wreckage. It makes the setting feel more interconnected without detracting from the story or art style.
Dark Empire existed before the Chosen One prophecy was established since it came out in the 90s, and at least Luke dealt with Palpatine himself instead of leaving the job to a bunch of nobodies
The voice acting is really good but the voice actor playing Lando is absolutely spot on.
Because it's the same actor who played him
@@Charstorms Indeed. I recently found out that they used an old audiobook for the animation and that Billy Dee Williams had previously provided his voice for it.
Feels like a saturday morning cartoon. Or something like Johnny Quest. It's awesome, thank you for making this!
Great job, I can't wait to see the TRUE story of Palpatine's return
Hell yeah
Exactly. Forget The Rise of Skywalker!
@@jamiebraswell5520 You mean Jedi Prince? LOL.
9:21 Beginning of The Last Jedi (2017, colorized)
Okay, this cracked me up, Bravo, sir or madam. Bravo.
11:37 Luke taught Leia how to fly in space.
This could actually be it, word for word
i don't get it...
The motif from imperial march playing when Luke appears is choice.
I don’t mind the new canon as much as many others do. But this is the canon I grew up with and love. Great work, it is one of the best fan films I’ve ever seen. I look forward to the next installment.
It's ok to have both canons and be able to appreciate both and what they bring to the table. People acting like the Disney merger is the death of this franchise, especially after the shitshow of the prequels, are ludicrous.
@@jimjam7928 I actually have my own head-canon:
-KOTOR
-Prequels
-The Force Unleashed 1
-Rebels
-Rogue One
-OG Trilogy
-This
@@jimjam7928 I wish Legends projects like this didn't attract anti-sequels negativity the way it does. Frankly, every complaint people have about them is something the EU was guilty of at least twice over. It's also OK to go for a clean slate and not expect everyone to be up to date on the sprawling, convoluted soap opera that was Skywalker family history in the EU.
@@ultratankie I personally don't like the Disney storyline, but what really annoys me is that they stopped the "Legends" timeline books. They could have continued making them as an alternate reality
I thought the art style was going to throw me off but booooooyyy was I wrong. This is the best damn fan animation I've seen so far. The uniqueness and creative design brings a whole new vision of star wars I can't wait to see the next episode.
Just like SC38 Reimagined, I was here before 5k views.
And I hope to heck that this blows up just as much as it did! The voices are amazingly spot-on, and the visual style is a wonderful homage to _Ewoks_ and _Droids._ Looking forwards to seeing more in the future!
The character animation is lifted from the 1978 Holiday Special short which predates Droids about 7 years.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. The animation at first I found it jarring, but it does grow on you. It brings to mind older animation styles. The audio needs to be more balenced. Han and leias dialogue I perfectly understood, but other rebels I found difficult to understand what they where saying. Just observations, take them with a grain of salt. I probably could never make something as awesome as this. Excellent work.
This is more emotionally satisfying than the new trilogy.
Damn Right it it!!!
Petty.
It's been over five years since I was excited for Star Wars...
Thank you.
This is the canon that truly means anything to me. Thanks for posting this. Long live the Expanded Universe!
During a interview with Junkman he said this took a year to make. There will be 6 episodes. So at this rate 6 years to complete. What can we do to speed this up?
Give this man some money and some helping hands. If we wait 6 years the franchise will already be completely dead and an afterthought after Disney and the current LucasFilms are done with it 😓
@@blackshogun272 I don't think you can give them money, at least not a disclosed donation.
I'd do absolutely anything to help!
Xozkov underground
Does the Star Wars theory guy know about this? Maybe he could help spread the word.
Fantastic work. I've never read Dark Empire, so that cliffhanger has got me eagerly awaiting episode 2!
This slaps hard and deserves more attention I absolutely love the nostalgic art style can’t wait for the rest of the episodes!!
As someone who completely hates this comic as one of the worst things in Star Wars... this was amazing. You did a great job, I recognized some of those famous comic scenes and thought you did a great job animating it. I can tell you put a lot of love into this. I wish you guys the best of luck in this project because I would gladly see anything from the Legends universe continue to touch people.
This was impressive work. Animation was reminiscent of the holiday special without being completely horrible. I loved it! Looking forward to seeing more.
Great work, you're doing an epic job bringing the comic to life while using voice clips straight out of the audiobook version!
Your voice actors, SFX, animation quality is all so good! And the art style just makes me happy :) I hope you’re completely satisfied with how this turned out, because so many of us are!
Edit: Using the audio drama was smartest smart. You are smartest cookie.
Love how you used a design for 3PO like the one used in the 80s DROIDS show.
THIS IS WHAT WE NEEDED. Don't get me wrong i'm a huge Star Wars fan and the Disney cannon is okay. But man this is what I grew up with. Thank you for making this! Keep up the hard work
Excellent. Excellent. You're approaching Dave Feloni and his crews territory. Keep it up. The dark empire was a great story Cam Kennedy , under appreciated.
This is just amazing. Along with DarthAngelus's take on Heir to the Empire, it's like a new golden age for the classic EU stories. You're doing an amazing job, mate, keep up the great work!
Star wars EU is Canon
Disney star wars is garbage
Spread the rumors that what I writing : it's like the rise of star wars expanded universe (EU)
Or star wars legends
Reminds me of the old Expanded Universe. It's sad that these 12 minutes are better than all of Disney's Star Wars movies.
It actually is, the dark empire trilogy
Dude you, are a legend
Man this was the longest smile ive had in quite some time. Especially for star wars. Thankyou so much for being you dude youre the mountain.
OH MY NOT EVEN POSSIBLE! I WAS JUST AS THRILLED WATCHING THIS AS I WAS WITH THE MOVIES!!!!!!!!! GOOD JOB AND THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!! LUKE WAS SERIOUSLY SOOOO EPIC!!!!!! YOU BLEW MT MIND!!!
Wow, this is awesome! You have real talent. This is way better than all of the sequel trilogy combined. One detail I really liked is how when Luke first appeared, you made his silhouette look a lot like Darth Vader. Nice way to show the relationship between the two and how Luke is filling the shoes of Anakin, and maybe even foreshadowing something more... sinister.
Oh my, I imagine how cool Battle of Balmorra and Luke vs Palpy would be. Great applause
I love this, it reminds me of the animated segment in the holiday special and Droids
I had a smile on my face watching this yet felt somewhat sad as I realised what could have been. It was nice seeing all our beloved characters together.
What's this? This feeling? New Star Wars content and I care! I didnt think it was possible. In all seriousness this is really good. Great job. I hope y'all keep doing these cause this is amazing.
This is so amazing, keep up the fantastic work, you have grown wise and powerful, Anakin, and I'm proud of you
This is amazing, truly it is. You deserve more of a following.
Man, I absolutely love your work. The style of the final part of the episode is perfectly balanced between cartoon and the original style of the comics. Please continue this. This is the kind of work that Star Wars and the fans really deserve
wow man REALLY REALLY good, you really brought this comic to life.
When 12 minutes and 34 seconds is 100x better than what Disney ever produced with Star Wars. Seriously everything is on point. The characters, the story, seeing factions of the empire fight each other, the voice acting is really well done too.They sound pretty similar to the OG characters. Speaking of OG characters, how they interacted was spot on too. Seeing Leia use the force but not be god when it comes to it and then seeing Luke be a complete badass. God I wish this was a movie. I loved every second of this. PLEASE MAKE MORE!!!
I am a child of the force, born in 1977 and this brought me right back to my childhood! simply amazing! thank you!!
This is so beautiful, true Star Wars. Seeing it moving really shows just how much better it is than anything Disney has done with the sequels. This is genuinely amazing, it brought a tear to my eye how well done it is and that we have this gem! Keep up the good work and I will be sending my monetary support for what it counts.
So this was a fantastic surprise. The voices surprised me how good they were. The style is a mix of the original comics and the holiday special, with a touch of Ralph Bakshi animation. Damn, man, this was built with love.
Agree. So many nods to the old fans. The REAL fans.
I've been looking forward to this.
Now this.
*THIS IS BEAUTIFUL*
No seriously, thank you for making this.
This is my second time watching it after a while. It’s 11:00 and I was tired but now I’m hyped up and won’t be able to sleep. Thanks.
Lavender Letter glad you enjoy it! I’m working away on episode two, and eager for you all to see it!
@@SpikeyTortoise WilkinsAnimations I can't wait to see it. Honestly, I love the style of the animation. Working on some original comics myself. Very hard though considering school work.
Well guy, that was great. Absolutely great! Can't wait for the next one, also EU itch scratched.
Congratulations! It looks great 😍😍
I'm sorry, but English is not my mother tongue, so I use the Google translator.
Why the beginning of the Dark Empire is better than the Sequel Trilogy:
1. The initial intro looks like a sequel, not "wait, is this a remake?"
2. We immediately see the characters we know.
3. Leia and Han together.
4. An epic panorama of the battle at the beginning, like in episode 3.
5. Leia using force doesn't make you think "WTF was that?"
6. Luke. His appearance is epic, and he immediately shows the level of his progress between episode 6 and this. And he is not dressed like a hobo.
7. The real enemy demonstrates his strength at the very beginning, allowing himself to be taken seriously.
How the hell am I just seeing this now!!!??? Incredible job!!!
The best way to describe it is: If Only...
You sir, had my interest... And now you have my intrigue... Plus, this must have been a huge endevour just to make this... Can't wait to watch episode 2
I have never heard of this comic but this looks amazing!!!! Great job!!!!! Can't wait to see more!
Now this is good shit *italian fingers
Holy crap man this is incredible...
This is great! Great use of 2D and 3d animation. But, Han Solo never apologizes.
Another fan film that I enjoyed more than The Last Jedi. Thanks for the work you put into this, I Dig... Impatiently awaiting part 2.
Well that is spectacular: I'm looking forward to the rest of the Dark Empire Saga
This is GREAT. I can only imagine how time consuming this must have been. You even animated 3po's face when he talks.
I have the comics of this, looking forward to next episode:)
*Man... This is what ive waited for 5 years to see a animation of the EU Star Wars*
*Are you also going to do it with Heir To The Empire*
Great job. I am officially more pumped about this than any movie Disney has put out. You are greatly appreciated in these dark times. May the force be with you.
Oh man, I love the style matching the Holiday Special. This feels just like an old 80's cartoon. I can't wait to see more!