Star Wars: The Clone Wars has proven to be an influential part of the franchise's modern canon. It not only gave life to dozens of existing characters from the prequel trilogy who had faded into the background, but it also introduced several new figures who went on to become fan favorites. One such character was Cad Bane, and while the bounty hunter never got a true ending in The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett could give him another shot.
During the Clone Wars era, Bane was considered to be the most notorious and infamous bounty hunter around. He was often compared to Boba's father, Jango, but after Jango's death at the hands of Mace Windu, he was given sole possession of the top spot. Bane was so proficient, in fact, he often found himself on the payroll of some of the galaxy's most nefarious figures, including Count Dooku, Darth Sidious and Jabba the Hutt.
Bane would pop up sporadically throughout The Clone Wars' first few seasons, but his final appearance came in Season 4, Episode 18, which was the end of a four-episode arc that saw Obi-Wan try to stop an assassination plot directed at Chancellor Palpatine. He was briefly mentioned in Season 5 and an Easter Egg reference was made to him in a Season 2 episode of Star Wars: Rebels, but outside of that, Bane has been absent from the franchise.
When dealing with a franchise that gives a beginning, middle and end to nearly every character introduced, it's surprising that Bane was never given a proper ending. Dave Filoni had planned a story arc for The Clone Wars that would have seen a young Boba kill Bane, but that episode never made it to air, leaving the bounty hunter's fate up in the air. Fortunately, with an abundance of new Star Wars content on the way, there is sure to be room for the character to pop up somewhere.
Bane could return in the upcoming The Clone Wars sequel series, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, but there's an even better fit for him in the world of live-action: The Book of Boba Fett. Few details have been released about the new series, but it looks like it will focus on Boba and Fennec Shand lording over the remains of Jabba's criminal empire on Tatooine. Bane could easily fit into that story, potentially facing off against Boba in the fight that was originally supposed to go down years ago.
While Star Wars has tried -- and sometimes failed -- to give closure to some of its bigger characters, the world of TV opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for some of the franchise's smaller names. Cad Bane was an important part of The Clone Wars, and he has earned the right to fight for an ending to his story.