Star Wars: Underworld, the long-promised live action TV series from George Lucas, won't arrive on the small screen until at least 2015, and that's being optimistic. We know from various past reports that at least fifty episodic scripts have already been written, and are in shooting order. The hold up is the budget, as Star Wars: Underworld will be shot to look just like it's theatrical counterparts, each of which cost millions of dollars to produce.

With so many scripts already completed, and such a huge expanse of time before any of them are shot, it shouldn't come as a surprise that various story elements have started to leak forth.

We've now learned of a storyline that will play into Star Wars: Underworld and the overall mythology of this iconic franchise, and its one that introduces the idea of Time Travel into George Lucas' beloved universe. This is a sci-fi trope yet unseen in terms of the film and animated franchises to date, at least in terms of traveling backwards against the flow of time.

Warning: Major Spoilers! lay ahead.

AICN has stumbled upon a reliable source that claims the introductory first episodes of Star Wars: Underworld will involve a shady group of intergalactic bandits who gain the ability to time travel, and use their new found power of the Force to travel back to the prequels, hoping to stop the existence of Darth Vader. This will potentially allow for an unmasked Hayden Christensen to make a cameo appearance.

This has yet to be confirmed. So consider it a rumor until otherwise verified.

With Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace coming to theaters this February, it will give curious fans a chance to see if there are any sudden, unexplained disappearances by Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) or Qui Gon (Liam Neeson) that can now be attributed to the fact that they were fighting Time Lords. Take for instance all that time Obi Wan is left on the ship during their stopover in Tatooine. What happens while he is waiting for Qui Gon's return? Stopping a gang of time invaders from killing Lil' Ani? It's possible.

While time travel has never played into the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series, or any of the films, the idea of realspace or hyperspace jumping is acknowledged in official Star Wars extended universe lore. It doesn't quite work like our understanding of time travel. Generally, time travel in the Star Wars universe finds a body being trapped against the natural flow of time, or traveling into the future at a faster rate of time than the rest of the universe (as we see Obi Wan and Qui Gon doing a few times throughout Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace). It is a rare phenomenon, and usually involves a hyperdrive malfunction or extreme manipulation of the Force.

It is unclear how time travel will function in Star Wars: Underworld. And by 2015, this idea could be completely scrapped, becoming a moot point. What do you think? Do you like the idea of time travel in Star Wars? Or does it go against the mythology of the series? Let us know below in the comment section.