13 Things 'Star Wars' Fans (Probably) Don't Know About Cad Bane

Cad Bane is a Duros, and they don't have any kind of breathing issues on other planets, which begs the question, "Why does he have those tubes sticking out of his face?" There's a simple answer to that question, and it has everything to do with the Jedi. During the Clone Wars, Bane took on a lot of work hunting down and/or interacting with the Jedi, which was challenging, given their ability to choke the life out of someone should the need arise.

Granted, Jedi don't typically do that, but Bane was dealing with the Sith a lot, so he wanted to be cautious. He had the tubes installed as a defensive measure to keep a Jedi from Force-choking him to death. The breathing tubes also served a practical purpose, as they made it possible for him to breathe in places where that might be difficult. For example, he can avoid being taken out by various gas attacks and can survive in areas with lower than normal oxygen levels.

Star Wars is a science-fiction fantasy film, but it's more than that. It also slides perfectly into the Western style of storytelling, so many have dubbed it a "space Western" to more accurately describe its genre. While many consider it a space Western, it doesn't always have the same tropes that put it into that category. Still, there's plenty of Western influence and inspiration in the franchise, and Cad Bane is probably the best example of this because he was modeled after one of the greatest Spaghetti Western actors of all time.

Lee Van Cleef was a staple in Western films for years; one of his most famous characters is Angel Eyes from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly opposite Clint Eastwood. Everything from Angel Eyes' manner of speech to the way he dressed was used as the inspiration for Cad Bane, and if you put the two side by side, it's easy to see the similarities. When Corey Burton was working on creating Bane's distinctive voice for The Clone Wars, he modeled it after Van Cleef, and by most accounts, he did a fantastic job. Burton has remained attached to the character, as he provided the voice in The Book of Boba Fett.

Cad Bane was one of the galaxy's preeminent bounty hunters during the time of the Clone Wars (and after, as well). He hailed from the planet Duro, where he first dabbled in the trade. When he was just getting started, he found a mentor in Jango Fett.

It's unclear when this mentor/mentee relationship occurred, but it was likely before Fett's contract with the Kaminoans. While Cad Bane was a masterful bounty hunter in his own right, Fett was the man chosen to be cloned to create the Grand Army of the Republic, so his standing was widely known across the galaxy - at least, in bounty hunting circles.

Following Jango Fett's passing, Bane filled the vacuum left by his former mentor. During this time, he became the most sought-after bounty hunter in the galaxy, finding work with the Hutts and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (among others). He even worked with Boba Fett at one point, though that story was never animated in The Clone Wars​​​​​​.

The Clone Wars offered up a lot of history for Darth Maul, making him into a more complex character than was seen in The Phantom Menace. One thing the animated series didn't cover was the long history Maul had with Cad Bane, as they had worked together long before the events of the movie. Bane plays a significant role in the Marvel Comics series Darth Maul (2017). Those five issues detail what these two characters were doing before the breakout of interstellar war, and it was pretty crazy.

The two met on Nar Shaddaa alongside bounty hunters Troo-tril-tek, Vorhdelio, and Aura Sing. He helped Maul acquire Jedi Padawan Eldra Kaitis from an auction. He did this by taking out a whole bunch of Jee Kra's crew aboard his gunship, and when they were finished, the bounty hunters considered killing Maul. That didn't happen because their ship was sabotaged, and they crashed on the moon of Drazkel. They survived the ordeal after laying waste to a lot of Trandoshans, and in the end, everyone left with their heads still attached.

One of Cad Bane's greatest stories was never told, though it remains canon. The plan was to create a four-episode arc in The Clone Wars to bring Boba Fett and Cad Bane together. Dave Filoni described it by saying, "The next arc that involved the bounty hunters was really finally bringing the two big bounty hunters, Boba Fett and Cad Bane, together." He explained it at the Anaheim Star Wars Celebration, which hosted a panel called "The Untold Clone Wars."

In it, Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo described the storyline that never was. In the arc, Boba Fett and Cad Bane were going to team up for a rescue mission on Tatooine. Tuskens had captured a child, and the two bounty hunters would develop a relationship similar to the one Bane had with Jango (mentor/mentee). Bane's ship, the Justifier, was to be introduced in these episodes, which would explore the two characters' relationships with one another. The arc would end with a stand-off duel in which Fett's helmet is dented (if you've ever wondered where that dent came from, this would have explained it).

The episodes were never produced due to the cancellation of the series. When the show was given another life for its sixth and seventh seasons, the storyline was dropped. Still, there was a lot of work done on producing it, including detailed storyboards like the one pictured. Boba Fett's voice actor, Daniel Logan, also recorded lines for Boba Fett for seven episodes, including the one with the duel between the two bounty hunters.

Cad Bane first appeared in The Clone Wars, but the development of the character stretches further into the past than most fans realize. Like many modern characters, Bane was based on something George Lucas worked on long ago. Dave Filoni explained how this came about while describing the origins of Cad Bane:

Something you notice about George Lucas after a while is that he'll mention a name like "Mace Windu" in a [1973] version of Star Wars, and then it pops up in 1999. So, this, I guess might have been an idea George had for the character Cad Bane way back when, and now finally he's getting around to bringing him to the screen in The Clone Wars.

Creating the character from Lucas's initial concept took some time, and Cad Bane went through several design steps before he became the blue bounty hunter we all know and love today. He first started out as a human and then became a sort of cyborg-ish being similar to his modern appearance. Over time, he evolved into the character he is today.