There has been a long police lineup’s worth of memorable movie villains in more recent years. Bill The Butcher’s hacking and slashing in Gangs of New York. Anton Chigurh and his cattle gun chaos in No Country for Old Men. And of course, Heath Ledger’s once-in-a-lifetime, all-anarchist take on the Joker in The Dark Knight. Reaching further back in movie history, there is one figure in particular who was the bogeyman of his time and still haunts us today: Darth Vader.

Darth Vader is one of the greatest movie villains of all time. He has depth, a tragic and detail-rich backstory, and is ultimately redeemed. It’s not a simple case of letting a mad dog off the chain after his or her enemies, or violence for fun. There is more to his motives and heart than sheer brutality and destruction. He’s a deeply conflicted character who walks just over the edge of a fine line into the Dark Side.

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We hadn’t seen much of him since The Revenge of the Sith and a few brief but standout scenes in Rogue One. That is, until Disney+ graced our presence with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The series not only brought back the beloved titular character portrayed by fan-favorite Ewan McGregor, it got us the most fleshed-out and meaty Darth Vader scenes in Star Wars history. Spin-off Star Wars movies have pretty much been forced off the Disney slate, so a Vader movie is unlikely. But a series would serve the Dark Lord of the Sith just as well if not better. Here’s why Disney+ needs to make a series surrounding the character.

No Shortage of Material

     Disney/Lucasfilm

The Star Wars lore has spread far beyond the Outer Rim. It has evolved and grown incredibly far past the bounds of a few movies in recent years, as well as the times before Disney dropped a pile of money on George Lucas for the rights. Between animated series, comics, and novels, there are a wealth of stories to be told or adapted. Particularly from the recent run of Marvel Star Wars comics.

Just the stories that take place between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back not only give a more in-depth look at the Star Wars galaxy at large but follow Darth Vader closely in his maneuverings on behalf of and out of sight of Emperor Palpatine.

Vader Down is a prime example of showing the sheer brute force in which Vader deals, crashing down on a rebel planet and taking on and taking out an entire battalion of rebels. “You’re surrounded!” the rebel commander shouts at Vader. “The only thing I am surrounded by is fear…and dead men,” Vader coldly replies before igniting his lightsaber. This was only a miniseries, but it explored in great detail the absolute force that is Vader (no pun intended) and furthers his relationship with Luke leading up to Empire. Vader Down barely scratches the surface. Darth Vader Vol 1, Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith and the general Star Wars series are all packed with quality material to be mined for a Vader series script. Not to mention the massive block of time between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

The Character’s Conflict

     Lucasfilm Ltd./Disney

As mentioned and as we already know, Darth Vader is an extremely measured character constantly being pulled in two directions between the darkness and the light. He’s not a pure villain in any sense of the word or concept. He shows flickers of mercy, patience, and at times, even forgiveness, at least compared to his boss in the big chair, who is all depravity and iron fists. Exploring the good in Vader, as well as the darkness would make for a fascinating series arc.

Obi-Wan Kenobi showed what his rage and thirst for revenge will do, like force-snapping the neck of a villager and dragging another cruelly through the dirt. Here we see him at his worst, hoping to draw out Kenobi to serve his own personal dark side. But what about the side that longs to destroy the Emperor and reunite with his long-lost son? “There is good in him,” we heard ad nauseam from Luke. And there was, even though it burst through at the very end of the character’s journey.

We Already Got a Sample

     Lucasfilm/Disney

Put simply, we’ve already seen extensive Vader in a series, and it was awesome. It was near perfect, from the booming pipes of James Earl Jones (retired and to be replaced with AI) and the searing scenes from Hayden Christensen. From Vader’s first ugly lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan, to his pulling a starship out of the sky with the force, right on down to his embarrassing final defeat at the hands of his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi would not have been the same without Darth Vader. McGregor’s Kenobi was the engine of the series, but Vader was the adrenaline of the ride. Disney+ needs to recapture that feeling in a dedicated Darth Vader series.