A galaxy far, far away has been around for a long, long time. In just a few years, Star Wars will be celebrating its 50th anniversary, currently encoming 12 movies and many live-action and animated television shows. 575n56

Over that time the franchise has amassed a glittering array of stars who’ve walked the Tatooine sands, swung a lightsaber, or piloted an X-Wing. Sadly, the steady age of time means many of them are no longer with us. So, here are the prominent Star Wars actors who have died.

James Earl Jones (Darth Vader) 2c3s3z

Darth Vader is the most iconic character in Star Wars, and James Earl Jones’ vocal performance is responsible for most of that fame. From the moment Vader strides onto the screen in A New Hope his deep bass voice defines him as a terrifying and intimidating figure.

Jones periodically returned to the franchise to voice Vader across movies, TV shows, and video games. He gave his final performance as Vader in the 2022 Disney Plus show Obi-Wan Kenobi, albeit with a boost from AI.

But, of course, Jones wasn’t just Darth Vader. His credits include Mufasa in The Lion King (both the animated and live action versions), Field of Dreams, The Hunt for Red October, Coming to America, and Doctor Strangelove. He also had a glittering career on stage, was a Korean War veteran, and used his fame to fight for social justice.

Jones died at age 93 on Sept. 9 2024 of undisclosed causes, but his voice will live on forever.

Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa) 235k2i

Carrie Fisher surely needs no introduction to Star Wars fans. Princess Leia became an instant cultural icon when A New Hope hit screens in 1977 and went on to become a pivotal character in the Original Trilogy. Fisher reprised the role three decades later for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, with Lucasfilm assembling a posthumous performance in The Rise of Skywalker from unused footage.

Outside of Star Wars, Fisher was a critically acclaimed author and script doctor. Her books Postcards from the Edge, Wishful Drinking, and The Princess Diarist are excellent reads and she was an uncredited script doctor on many major Hollywood movies, including Sister Act, The Wedding Singer, and Hook. She even worked on The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones screenplays to punch up the dialogue.

Beyond Star Wars, Fisher gave memorable performances in The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally, Hannah and her Sisters and picked up two Emmy nominations for her guest roles on 30 Rock and Catastrophe.

On Dec. 23, 2016, Fisher suffered a medical emergency while on board a flight from London to Los Angeles. On landing, she was rushed to intensive care, though never regained consciousness and died on Dec. 27, 2016.

Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) u345j

Alec Guinness was famously dismissive of Star Wars and was unhappy in his later years that, after a long career, all people wanted to talk about was Obi-Wan Kenobi. He said, “Apart from the money, I regret having embarked on the film,” dismissed George Lucas’ dialogue as “lamentable,” and even claimed, “It’s not an acting job.”

Guinness had a point. Long before he ever ignited a lightsaber he was renowned for his performances in Ealing comedies Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Lavender Hill Mob, and The Ladykillers. In 1957 he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Bridge on the River Kwai and picked up a writing nomination in 1958 for adapting the novel The Horse’s Mouth.

Presumably to his surprise, he also acquired an Oscar nomination as Best ing Actor for A New Hope, Regardless of whether he liked it or not, Obi-Wan remains the role he’s most strongly identified with (that whirring sound you hear is him spinning furiously in his grave). Guinness died at age 86 in August 2000 after being diagnosed with prostate and liver cancer.

Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) 5n372c

Christopher Lee was a screen icon long before Star Wars debuted, making a name for himself as Count Dracula in numerous Hammer Horror movies. It was likely with these in mind that Lucas chose Lee as Attack of the Clones‘ villain Count Dooku. Predictably, Lee delivered the goods, going so far as to perform the lightsaber battles himself (though a stunt double was used for some longer shots.)

Dooku was a big part of Lee’s late-career renaissance, as the movies released concurrently with his performance as Saruman in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lee would reprise the role of Dooku in Revenge of the Sith and provide his voice for the 2008 The Clone Wars movie.

Lee died at age 93 in June 2015 after being itted to hospital for respiratory problems and heart failure.

Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) 3f1i25

Like Christopher Lee (whom he was close friends with) Peter Cushing had a memorable career in Hammer Horror long before Star Wars, notably playing Baron Frankenstein and Van Helsing in multiple movies. Cushing was George Lucas’ first choice for Grand Moff Tarkin, believing that A New Hope needed a lead villain whose face was visible (as opposed to the masked Darth Vader).

Cushing adored A New Hope, with his only regret that Tarkin being killed in the Death Star explosion meant he couldn’t return for the sequels. Cushing died in August 1994 at the age of 81, though Tarkin was (controversially) digitally resurrected for 2016’s Rogue One.

Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) 6zs5u

We may have never seen Peter Mayhew’s face in any Star Wars movie, but we certainly felt his presence. Mayhew was 7’3 tall, making him the ideal actor to play Chewbacca, something George Lucas instantly recognized when he met him. Aside from playing Chewie on film, Mayhew regularly appeared as the character in hospital appearances for sick children and was a constant presence at fan events.

Mayhew reprised the role for The Force Awakens, though retired from the role for health reasons and was replaced by Joonas Suotama (Mayhew was the “Chewbacca consultant” for The Last Jedi). Mayhew died of a heart attack in April 2019 at age 74.

David Prowse (Darth Vader) za1u

David Prowse was the man under Darth Vader’s armor throughout the original trilogy, with his imposing stature and movement key to bringing the villain to life. Prowse was famously under the impression that he’d also be voicing Vader during A New Hope, though his strong West Country accent led him to be dubbed “Darth Farmer” by the cast.

Prowse was key to bringing Vader to life in the original trilogy, though in later years had a long-running feud with Lucasfilm over residual payments. He died in November 2020 aged 85 of an unspecified illness, with George Lucas releasing a statement that he was “essential for the character.”

Kenny Baker (R2-D2) 5d6831

Kenny Baker began his showbiz career in 1951 when he was approached on the street by a woman inviting him to a “theatrical troupe of dwarfs and midgets.” He went on to specialize in ice skating and ice shows, as well as leading the successful comedy act the Mini-Tones.

But it was with Star Wars that he made his name as everyone’s favorite beeping trashcan R2-D2. Baker played the role in both the original and prequel trilogies, as well as playing the Ewok that steals the speeder biker in Return of the Jedi. Baker was set to reprise the role once more for The Force Awakens, but his physical health meant he ended up as a consultant.

Baker died in August 2016 after suffering a long lung illness.

Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) 1f332i

Boba Fett may have minimal screen time in the original trilogy, but it’s easy to see why Star Wars fans latched onto this competent and ruthless masked bounty hunter. Jeremy Bulloch was the man inside the Boba Fett costume during the original trilogy, though the voice was provided by Jason Wingreen (who was himself overdubbed with Temuera Morrison in later releases).

Bulloch also appeared in two other minor roles: as the Imperial officer who grabs Leia when she tells Luke that Vader is setting a trap in The Empire Strikes Back and in Revenge of the Sith as Captain Colton, the Alderaanian pilot who flies Obi-Wan, Bail Organa, and Yoda to Coruscant.

Bulloch battled Parkinson’s disease for several years and died in hospital in December 2020, aged 75.

Sebastian Shaw (Anakin Skywalker) 3g4p52

Sebastian Shaw’s time in Star Wars can be measured in seconds, though every one of them counts. Shaw plays the dying Anakin Skywalker in the closing scenes of Return of the Jedi, finally revealing the sad and injured old man under the imposing armor. Prior to this, Shaw had a long career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Lucas cast him on the basis of that experience.

Shaw also appeared as a Force Ghost in the final scene of the movie, though his performance was controversially erased in the 2004 release and replaced with Hayden Christensen.

Post-release, Shaw was surprised and delighted by the attention his brief performance received and was inundated with fan mail and autograph requests. Shaw died of natural causes in Dec. 1994 at the age of 89.

Ray Stevenson (Gar Saxon / Baylan Skoll) 356h3k

Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll was arguably the single best thing about Disney Plus’ Ahsoka. Baylan is a mysterious fallen Jedi turned mercenary, though, over the first season, we gradually learned he had greater aspirations to end the cycle of war and peace at the heart of Star Wars. Sadly we will never get to see Stevenson complete Baylan’s story, as he died of a heart condition on May 21, 2023.

But Ahsoka wasn’t Stevenson’s first Star Wars role. In Rebels and The Clone Wars, he voiced Gar Saxon, a Mandalorian super commando who became the Imperial Viceroy of Mandalore during the reign of the Galactic Empire.

Aside from Star Wars, Stevenson was known for playing Frank Castle in The Punisher: War Zone, as the Asgardian Volstagg in the MCU’s Thor movies, and as Titus Pullo in Rome.

Carl Weathers (Greef Karga) 686m71

“MANDO!” Carl Weathers’ The Mandalorian hero Greef Karga was one of the most charismatic and energetic characters in the show, with an arc taking him from the leader of the Bounty Hunters’ Guild to the High Magistrate of Nevarro. Throughout he was a staunch ally to Din Djarin and Grogu, participating in most of their major battles.

Weathers adored the role, describing it as “one of the greatest things that’s happened in all of the years that I’ve been in entertainment”, and was rightly nominated for an Emmy. He went on to direct two episodes of the show, both of which can be ranked amongst its best.

And, of course, Weathers was already a full-on icon for his roles in the Rocky franchise, Predator, Toy Story and Arrested Development (amongst many more). Beyond all that, he was also an NFL linebacker, playing for the Oakland Raiders in the early 1970s. What a life.

Weathers died on Feb. 1, 2024 at the age of 76 from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Other notable deaths 4r588

We must also tip our hat to some other Star Wars luminaries. Several Ewok actors in Return of the Jedi have died: Paul Grant at age 56 in March 2023, Gary Friedkin at age 70 in Dec. 2022, Jack Purvis at age 60 in Nov. 1997, and Felix Silla at age 84 in April 2021.

Two X-Wing pilots have also left us: Red Leader actor Drewe Henley died at age 75 in Feb. 2016 and Porkins’ actor William Hootkins died at age 57 in 2005. Phil Brown played Owen Lars in A New Hope and died aged 89 in Feb. 2006, with Beru Lars actor Shelagh Fraser dying aged 79 in Aug. 2000.

The original voice of Boba Fett, Jason Wingreen, died at age 95 on Dec. 25 2015. Alex McCrindle, who played General Dodonna in A New Hope died at age 78 in April 1990. John Hollis played Lobot in The Empire Strikes Back and died aged 77 in 2005. Clive Revill voiced Emperor Palpatine in the theatrical release of The Empire Strikes Back, and died at age 94 on Mar. 11, 2025.

Eddie Byrne made his final film appearance before his death as General Willard in A New Hope and died aged 70 in Aug. 1981. Larry Ward voiced Greedo in A New Hope and Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi and died at age 63 in 2007. Finally, Declan Mulholland, whose performance as a human version of Jabba the Hutt was cut from A New Hope entirely, died in June 1999 at the age of 66.

Whether you love it or hate it, The Phantom Menace remains one of the most talked about Star Wars films. Darth Maul is one of the most iconic Sith of all time, and the climactic fight soundtracked by Duel of the Fates is arguably the greatest lightsaber fight to date – unless you buy The Acolyte’s propaganda.

Though we believed that Maul and Palpatine were the reason behind the film’s kick-butt name, one TikToker might have found the real “Phantom Menace” – and he doesn’t show until Episode III.

We have to give it to @Jan_Short, they have some stellar eyes. Or maybe they aren’t alright, as TikToker @.might.have.adhd insinuates.

The original video features two cackling German men, watching through Revenge of the Sith. As Anakin and Obi-Wan duke it out on Mustafar, a perfectly timed pause shows the smiling face of an unknown man looming over Anakin’s shoulder.

And we mean perfectly paused, as @.might.have.adhd quickly finds. The – who appropriately ponders how anyone could have possibly seen this shadow as one of the best bromances of all time falls apart on screen – quickly takes to her laptop to do some reconnaissance.

The face-off, which comes at around the 1-hour 58-minute mark, happens ridiculously fast. Maybe fighter jet pilots, formula 1 drivers, or an actual Jedi could clock the looming specter, but it’s simply too fast for mere mortals. @.might.have.adhd craftily takes multiple screen captures, what looks like 18 pictures per second, and discovers that the cameo lasts for just 2 frames!

The discovery is a wonderful little easter egg, and it left viewers speculating on who – or what – the mysterious presence was.

“Lol it’s someone from stunt rigging” claimed one commenter, dotting their reply with crying emojis, “helping him execute that flip!” Even training  7 weeks to master choreography didn’t magically give Hayden Christensen the power to actually flip over Ewan McGregor, but we doubt post-processing could make a blunder like that. Then again, there is that one set hand visible in The Mandalorian, season 2, so its entirely possible.

“Has to be somebody in post-production” a very reasonable person offered.

It’s a good guess, pranksters in the VFX department have been sneaking in cameos for years, even The Lion King had a hidden VFX  treat in the stars. Artists meticulously comb through frame by frame, so the sighting is probably intentional. Still, I prefer some of the other theories. Like, “Looks like Dr Strange falling through the multiverse.”

Or, “It’s a force ghost.”

Still the very best guess, despite it popping up in the wrong film, “It’s him! The phantom menace.”

After all this time, we finally found him. And here I was, assuming it was the Sith.

Samuel L. Jackson is still ionately campaigning for a Mace Windu television show, and we know the Star Wars fandom has wanted this for years, so what’s really stopping him from coming down upon thee with great vengeance?

During a recent profile on the prequel trilogy run by Empire magazine, the MCU star known for the unmistakable face and voice of Nick Fury exclaimed that he still wants to return as everyone’s favorite purple-lightsabered badass Mace Windu. In fact, he has three words for anyone who says it’s not possible to bring the Mace back, and they’re in the capital. “HE’S NOT DEAD!!!”

We agree wholeheartedly. Sure, Mace Windu was Force-electrocuted by Palpatine himself, and then chucked off the Senate Office building with furious anger, but let’s not forget a golden rule: Jedi don’t take height damage. The Force will have sustained Mace Windu long enough to survive, and perhaps he’s been in hiding all these years waiting for the right moment to resurface and save the galaxy again.

Now, the only thing standing in the way of all that amazing potential is Disney and Lucasfilm themselves. Are you telling me we can develop solo projects for a dozen protagonists and side characters but not give Mace Windu his due after all these years?

Of course, Disney would understandably be a bit hesitant to contract Samuel L. Jackson for such a large-scale project after the Secret Invasion fiasco — one of the most panned and divisive MCU projects to date — but let’s not forget Jackson’s acting was one of the few redeeming qualities of that show, if anything.

Having Mace Windu show up again after two decades is exactly the sort of thing the sinking Star Wars ship needs to hang on just a little longer. But hey, why do that when you can develop a movie no one even asked for?

I’m not old enough to have caught the original Star Wars trilogy as they came to cinemas in the early ’80s, but I’m old enough to the churning, violent whirlpool of rage that accompanied the release of the prequels.

Now, barely two decades on, to say that the fandom has turned over a new leaf so far as the prequels are concerned would be a huge understatement. If anything, it seems that the supposed brilliance of those films is only just dawning on us. It doesn’t matter how absurd and utterly whimsical a scene is, because you can trust the newer generation of Star Wars stans to find some sense in it. And if that doesn’t work, well, “it can’t be any worse than the sequels” now, can it?

In this particular instance, some fans over at Reddit are hailing one of the most-memed sequences in Revenge of the Sith as “peak Star Wars,” and it’s hard to determine if they’re joking.

As you can see for yourself, the scene in question depicts Obi-Wan and Anakin in the thick of their epic lightsaber duel, casually waving their elegant weapons of a more civilized age back and forth without even attempting to hit the other person. We know George Lucas thought of those earlier duels as a dance, but this particular shot always highlighted the worst of the prequels for me, all bark and no bite.

Superfluous doesn’t even begin to cover it by half, but one fan has posited an interesting theory. Maybe this was the Star Wars version of feinting an attack during a sword fight, with Obi-Wan and Anakin both looking for an opening to score a hit on the other.

Then again, a lot of people also watching this as children, and how it completely ruined the suspense.

As ever in the Star Wars fandom, it seems that we’ve come to a head, so let’s head over to the thread and thrash it out. I mean, what’s one more heated debate for galaxy far, far away fans?

If there’s one Star Wars story that almost every fan can get behind — and that’s something when you realize this fandom hardly ever reaches a consensus — it’s Dave Filoni’s Clone Wars animated series, which bridged the gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

One might argue, in fact, that The Clone Wars series, comprising a middling movie and seven amazing seasons of television, is the only media that not only received acclaim when it was coming out but actually stood the test of time and retained its relevancy through the years. It was also thanks to his work on this series, and Star Wars Rebels to an extent, that Filoni got to expand the MandoVerse with shows like Ahsoka and The Book of Boba Fett.

And speaking of all these other stories, it’s growing increasingly difficult to keep the timeline of the Skywalker Saga straight, so now that you know exactly where narratives like Rebels, The Mandalorian, and Ahsoka take place, let’s look further back to the days of the Republic and try to determine where The Clone Wars falls in the expansive timeline of the galaxy far, far away.

When did The Clone Wars take place? r20l

The first movie in the prequel trilogy, The Phantom Menace, takes place in 32 BBY and the second movie, marking the beginning of the Clone Wars, is 10 years after that on 22 BBY. That means from a chronological standpoint, the first episode of The Clone Wars takes place in 22 BBY, while its final episode, revolving the infamous Siege of Mandalore arc, happens three years after that in 19 BBY.

In fact, to make it simple for you, here’s a list of every movie and television show in chronological order, with the year they took place in the Galactic Standard Calendar. (BBY is Before the Battle of Yavin and ABY is After the Battle of Yavin.)

• Episode I: The Phantom Menace (32 BBY)
• Episode II: Attack of the Clones (22 BBY)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars (22–19 BBY)
• Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (19 BBY)
• Star Wars Rebels (5-1 BBY)
• Episode IV: A New Hope (0 BBY)
• Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (3 ABY)
• Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (4 ABY)
• Star Wars Rebels epilogue (5 ABY)
• The Mandalorian (9 ABY)
• The Book of Boba Fett (9 ABY)
• Ahsoka (9 ABY)

So, there you have it, folks. I hope this clears it up for you. Until the next Star Wars project comes along, that is.

There’s something about how Anakin’s story ends in the original Star Wars trilogy that always felt somewhat incomplete, his final moments with Luke and that epic line of “You were right about me” never quite living up to the redemption we’d been waiting for. It was as if Hayden Christensen’s version of Anakin Skywalker never got the closure he deserved. But now, after all these years, Dave Filoni, the ultimate maestro and savior of the galaxy far, far away, has amended that mistake through Ahsoka, finally allowing the prequel Anakin to give up the mantle in peace.

Whether you find yourself in the ranks of Star Wars fans who consider Luke to be the ultimate protagonist of the story, or think that when it comes down to it, Anakin was the real hero and villain of the saga all along, we can’t deny that George Lucas fundamentally conceived his space opera around the tragic tale of a boy who would grow to terrorize an entire galaxy before finding redemption at the hands of his son, the generational gap serving as the ultimate allegory for the conflicts between parents and their children.

As far as that motif is concerned, Star Wars manages to hit all the right notes to one degree or another, but the disparity between Darth Vader and Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker remains a palpable narrative dissonance even after all these years. Anakin may have turned to Vader in the final moments of Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, but the live-action character we know as the Chosen One and his abrupt turn to the Dark Side never felt like it had enough of a build-up, let alone a satisfying send-off.

In essence, the third act in the prequel trilogy suddenly yanks Anakin toward Vader and then asks the audience to seek out the culmination of his story in another film, with another actor, from a time long past. Never mind that Lucas — in classic Lucas fashion — changed the Force Ghost scene in Return of the Jedi to work Hayden Christensen back into the saga, because a lot of fans viewed that as cheap fan service, and rightly so.

That’s why the fifth episode of Ahsoka is such a blessing in the Skywalker timeline, as it finally gives Hayden Christensen the opportunity to show the fans where he stands in the world of Star Wars.

Since the early ’80s when the final movie in the trilogy came out, people have been debating Vader’s morality, and whether a single action like tossing his evil boss down a reactor shaft, and thus saving his son, necessarily “redeems” him in any meaningful way. We’re, after all, talking about a person who killed countless innocent people, presided over the tyrannical subjugation of trillions, and essentially assured the near-destruction of the Jedi Order. 

Did Anakin really come back to the light, or was it pity that moved him to stand up to Palpatine? Is that moment of realization so profound that he gets to become one with the Force despite all of his crimes? And does that mean there is no Vader in him anymore? Can he appear to newer generations of Force s like Yoda and Luke do?

Ahsoka finally answers all of these questions by bringing Anakin back to give the titular character her final lesson. This version of Anakin we see in the Worlds Between Worlds seems to embody the balance that the bespoke prophecies always mentioned, neither completely embodying the light (his former version) nor accepting the dark. Anakin spars with Ahsoka in his older form and then transitions into Vader — or at least Vader if he hadn’t been burnt to a crisp on the molten slopes of Mustafar — and confirms that he will always retain the part of him that succumbed to the temptations of the Dark Side.

While Ahsoka may not be about Hayden Christensen’s Anakin, this was always the redemption we were expecting to see from his character arc. Now we know Anakin has truly found peace and is perhaps at the zenith of his wisdom as a man who stared into the abyss far longer than anyone else but ultimately found his way back.

This article contains spoilers for Ahsoka episode 3.

Ahsoka episode 3 is here, teasing an imminent trip to a whole new galaxy. But making the leap doesn’t seem like it’s going to be easy. As Ahsoka, Sabine and Huyang approached Morgan Elsbeth’s hyperspace ring, Shin Hati and Marrok appeared with a squad of starfighters to blow their ship out of the sky.

Shin displayed some impressive piloting skills, though one tiny piece of equipment has long-time fans punching the air; she’s wearing an identical communications headset to the one that Anakin wore in Revenge of the Sith.

This headset can famously be seen in the “This is where the fun begins” moment that’s become one of the most memetic moments of the third installment of the prequel trilogy. The same headset has popped up quite a lot in Star Wars, being seen in The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch among many others.

This specific type of headset with the metal over the forehead is also theorized to let Force s more easily use their powers while dogfighting, so perhaps Baylan is making sure his student has all the skills a fully-fledged Jedi Knight would have.

We already know that Hayden Christensen is making some sort of appearance in Ahsoka, though whether it’s simply the show featuring some voiceover by him, a flashback to Ahsoka’s younger days or a full-on appearance as a Force Ghost remains to be seen. Either way, he and Ahsoka have a lot of history together, so don’t expect it to be a happy reunion.

To many Star Wars fans, Obi-Wan Kenobi signifies an undying devotion to the light side of the Force, a powerhouse of competence and strength that stands tall against the unrelenting tide of darkness. To his true fans, however, the experienced Jedi Master and Clone Wars veteran is an embodiment of sass and epic one-liners and a person who is singlehandedly saving the Jedi from drowning in a sea of self-importance.

Whether it’s in the main Skywalker Saga movies or spinoffs like Dave Filoni’s animated shows, you can always count on Obi-Wan to have the best words for any situation. Need to berate your Padawan for his disobedience? Well, do it in style as Obi-Wan does. Want to motivate the story’s main protagonist so much that he has no choice but to save the day? It takes only six words. Yes, only six. How about explaining the most complicated aspect of Star Wars lore in such a succinct and profound way that no writer even attempts to improve on it in four decades?

Obi-Wan has got all of that covered. The Jedi Master is a well of wisdom, a champion of humor, and the ultimate mentor figure in cinema. In this article, we’ve decided to rank some of his best dialogue from the Star Wars movies to his solo Disney Plus outing, in doing so, reminding you of why he is the most beloved figure in the franchise’s history.

10. “Another happy landing.” — Revenge of the Sith (2005) 485c5s

You might be wondering why I decided to start this list with what is essentially a meme line from Revenge of the Sith, but perhaps that’s precisely why it should be so. Star Wars don’t just love Obi-Wan because he’s a badass with a laser sword. There are loads of badass people with laser swords in Star Wars. What makes Kenobi unique, in a sense, is his ability to always see the silver lining and use a humorous sentence to make light of a life-and-death situation.

Our guy is essentially crashlanding a Separatist mothership amidst a raging starfighter battle with the leader of the democratic world (well, technically) onboard and acts as if this is just another Tuesday for him. If that isn’t the definition of cool, I don’t know what is.

9. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re going to be the death of me">via Lucasfilm As must be apparent to everyone by now, Obi-Wan has a lot of great quotes in Star Wars, but none of those are as iconic as “hello there” — a catchphrase that Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness share in their portrayals. “Hello there” isn’t a simple line of dialogue; it’s a universe within a universe. I’d even go so far as to suggest that it has a fandom of its own. There are only two real ways to recognize a Star Wars fan for sure; either a very knowing grin when you tell them, “May the Force be with you,” or a prompt “General Kenobi!” response to your “Hello there.” And yes, it happens every time. As the Grand Inquisitor would say, the litany is like an itch, and they can’t help it.]]> 4m6m5a

Star Wars fans will be debating the prequel trilogy until the heat death of the universe. Hell, even if there are two surviving humans eking out a lonely existence on some isolated frozen moon, one of them will probably pipe up with “okay sure, the lightsaber battles are well-choreographed, but you can’t seriously enjoy George Lucas’ dialogue!”

Since the mid-2010s, there’s been a schism growing between the fans who enjoyed the prequels as children and… well, everyone else. Those who were 9-12 in the early 2000s are now looking back to the past with nostalgia and wondering if maybe we were too quick to judge.

As such, Revenge of the Sith is now often commonly named the “best” Star Wars movie, causing one fan to assume everyone has lost their minds:

The movie’s defenders point out that Revenge of the Sith is easily the best of the prequel trilogy, though others quickly point out that isn’t a high bar to clear. Sequel trilogy defenders then pop up to argue that the more recent movies are more competently made (well, maybe not The Rise of Skywalker) and just easier to watch.

This debate is going to rumble on forever. It’s probably worth ing that Star Wars is coming up to its 50th anniversary in a few years, inevitably meaning it has an enormous range of fans of wildly different ages and perspectives. Conflict is inevitable, though we’ve got to it the Star Wars fan community would be a lot more boring without the arguments.

Joel Edgerton was just starting his career when he got the call from Lucasfilm telling him he’d be a part of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. In Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, he played the young Owen Lars, who’s destined to become Luke Skywalker’s adoptive father. Since the early 2000s, Edgerton’s career has blossomed, though he recently reprised the role of Owen in Disney Plus show Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Now, speaking with The Playlist, Edgerton has reflected on his time in the prequels, and says he saw Obi-Wan Kenobi as a chance to finally do the role justice. So, with his career having taken off, why did he want to return to a Star Wars bit part?

“I thought, ‘This is a chance for me to get it right. Because I was twenty-five or six at the time. I had no idea what I was doing. I only had worked in the theater and done a couple of small roles in films, and I was terrified. So, the whole thing was a bit of a blur. And here I was, getting a chance to sort of say thank you to Lucasfilm and George [Lucas] and everyone there for handing me a chance to break open the doors of Hollywood. And to come back a bit more of a mature actor with a bit more confidence of knowing how I go about things…I feel more confident now.”

In addition, it sounds like working with Ewan McGregor just isn’t something to turn down lightly:

“A reunion with Ewan and Hayden [Christensen] and all these guys – I was like, I shouldn’t question this at all. Even if there’s not necessarily some big meaty challenge as an actor. And I had a fantastic time, man! Just coming out of COVID. We were in L.A. and shooting in this quarry – the director there was incredible, the whole team was amazing, and it was a pleasure to be back at work, and it was a pleasure to be back at work feeling like I was also completing my own little psychological circle, in a way.”

Edgerton may not be done with Owen quite yet. We might get a second season of Obi-Wan Kenobi and it seems inevitable that the Lars homestead will at minimum appear, even if the rest of the season two action takes place off Tatooine. We’d love to see more of Edgerton’s Owen, as you could cut the tension between him and Obi-Wan with a knife, with Owen prioritizing keeping Luke safe and being understandably fearful of the trouble a high-profile Jedi in hiding can bring down.

For now, Edgerton is about to star in Apple TV Plus’ Dark Matter, which he refers to as “The Multiverse for the Middle-Aged Man”. This drama will focus on a normal guy dealing with his own complacency, all wrapped up in a mind-bending sci-fi quantum physics situation.

Dark Matter will premiere on Apple TV Plus later this year.

May the 4th is here, meaning everyone can’t stop talking about Star Wars. While most people talked about the remastered ending of Return of the Jedi, where Hayden Christensen‘s Anakin Skywalker appears with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, one person brought up a deleted scene that had fans wondering why it wasn’t included.

Twitter @NONBlNARYSUNSET shared a deleted scene from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, where Anakin and Obi-Wan are trying to figure out what R2-D2 is saying as the two Jedi attempts to locate the chancellor. The two argued about what “beep” meant and showcased more of the pair’s interactions with each other.

People agreed with the author’s sentiment, and questioned why the scene was cut in the final product. While some could agree that the scene isn’t necessary for the final product, it reminded people of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and how the two were close before Anakin ed the dark side.

But perhaps there is another reason why this scene might have been removed from the movie. While the scene is somewhat comedic, it probably isn’t one of Christensen’s best performances, especially when he called out the destroyers. But, even if the acting was subpar, it was still good nevertheless, especially at the end where the two mocked the Droids’ “Roger, Roger.”

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005 and earned over $868 million at the box office. The film was also the epic conclusion of the prequel trilogy, where it showed the moments that led to Anakin turning into the dark side. While The Clone Wars showed more of Anakin’s and Obi-Wan’s bond as Jedi and friends, it is a shame that we didn’t get more of their live-action bromance.

Revenge of the Sith and the rest of the Skywalker Saga are available to stream on Disney Plus.

George Lucas’ Star Wars is undoubtedly a pioneer entertainment franchise, redefining space dramas and sci-fi in an unprecedented way.

In fact, it continues to do so with its ever-expanding universe of stories and world-building, which in turn has become more of a grandeur thanks to the development of VFX technologies. And to still have Darth Vader and his character’s legacy survive in modern cinema is a testament to its quality and appeal among fans. But, the franchise itself has faced tough times. From poor reception to some of its stories to a significant canonization problem after Disney acquired Lucasfilm, there’s been confusion about how Lucas’ stories are continuing – or spreading out – under the new management.

The studio killed off several potential storylines when Disney took control of Star Wars. It removed a few animated shows and comic books from the canon. And while the new writing teams have kept the essence of the originals alive, placing them at the right spot within the timeline is somewhat complex, and we’re still trying to figure out why this timeline concern lingers even after years of continuity filters and new ventures.

Star Wars Events Leap Around a Strictly Narrow Timeline 285z3i

The Rise of Skywalker is the final entry in the Star Wars franchise, or at least the Skywalker Saga. Technically, the first entry in the main saga, for now, is The Phantom Menace before The Acolyte makes its way to Disney Plus. Most of the content fits in the timeline between the former two. And the most famous small screen Star Wars productions, such as The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, The Bad Batch, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, are set in between. It becomes necessary for one show to reference other events or characters, who are often crossing over to other productions. Moreover, it further becomes complex when the narrow timeline leads to confusion over the actual period of occurrence, as there is a risk of overlapping and errors.

For instance, Obi-Wan Kenobi takes place right between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, while we already have Andor taking place five years before A New Hope. Then there is Rogue One unfolding right before the first Star Wars. These events are bound to overlap with Star Wars Rebels at some point because they all occur in close proximity. The same can be said of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Since most of the new content is episodic, it’s hard to trace the actual placement of their events in the official timeline.

Things were relatively more straightforward with films, as all three trilogies were produced at least a decade apart. But then, the expansion of those storylines, unraveling events that happened in between, leaves writers with limited space on the timeline and a mandatory instruction to reference the coinciding or past events to maintain continuity. It will be something afresh and interesting to see how The Acolyte – which is set at the end of the High Republic Era and takes place a hundred years before The Phantom Menace – gives it a vast space to tell a new story, probably unrelated to the events set within The Skywalker Saga.

The Odd Dating Method for Mapping Star Wars 2d282f

Star Wars events are bifurcated between two time periods. BBY, i.e. Before the Battle of Yavin and ABY, i.e. After the Battle of Yavin. The Battle of Yavin was a deciding conflictbetween the Empire and the rebels which resulted in the destruction of Death Star at the end of A New Hope and established a strong alliance against the Galactic Empire.

Now, it’s a widely accepted and used method of dating. The most recent reference was in Andor, which gave viewers a specific period to place it on the timeline. And it’s been used extensively in novels, comic books, and other tie-in materials to give viewers a better understanding of the more profound lore of Lucas’ universe. But this dating system is heading towards a near collapse, given the rapid expansion of the franchise and the unraveling of more and more in-universe events. The further the franchise gets from the original saga, the more difficult it would be to put a time stamp on everything. Moreover, some entries are spread across eight periods; if we exclude the literary works right now. Hence, the BBY-ABY mapping of events will gradually become more challenging.

Let’s see if The Acolyte or Skeleton Crew will address the system as Andor did. Then we’d know if Disney plans to continue using the method from thereon.

Complex Understanding of Placement of Shows and Films in Real Time 96uc

Andor is set during the Galactic Empire, and the original trilogy is set during the growing rebellion movements. The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett are set during the New Republic Era. In contrast, Obi-Wan and The Bad Batch take place after the prequels. Right before prequels is Tales of the Jedi, and Star Wars: Resistance is set before and during the events of the sequels. Confusing, right?

The fans’ understanding of events – and even the BBY-ABY dating system of the universe – is based upon major political conflicts and their results, and why not? After all, these major events have brought change to the narrative and developed characters throughout the franchise. Whatever the harsh scenarios or peaceful outcome that has come forth in Star Wars is a result of a political shift in the galaxy.

However, we are witnessing these events from our screens, comics, or novels from this dimension. At any given time, there is a Star Wars show, film, or literary work in production or publishing mode, with each story, set before, after, or between the Skywalker Saga. For us, it’s all happening everywhere and all at once. Hence, it’s quite a task to consume it all and simultaneously keep a live track of everything happening across so many periods of the timeline.

The Dilemma of Eras of Republic, Empire, and Order 3b42t

The confusion, as mentioned above, of political eras gets more confusing when two series are set only a little apart from each other. Let’s say Andor and The Mandalorian are set a decade apart, but in two different eras. Similarly, the Revenge of the Sith and Obi-Wan Kenobi are also a decade apart and ushered in two different ages, and the list goes on if we discuss The Clone Wars and Resistance.

In 2021, Disney updated the Star Wars timeline and separated events based on political changes. The Fall of Jedi comprised the prequels. Reign of Empire included the likes of Solo, The Bad Batch and Andor, with the latter leading up to the Age of Rebellion. But, given that so many stories are added to the timeline, and more projects are incoming, it takes time to place the actual occurrence of events. While the major live-action projects are pretty comprehensive, lore’s canonization can be challenging.

Events through Cross-Media Ventures 1nx34

Star Wars saw much live-action work in production at the end of the new sequel trilogy. George Lucas made the original films and then more than a decade later, decided to continue his saga with the prequels. However, after Disney’s acquisition, the studio completed the story without Lucas.

To keep its legacy intact, Lucas approved and helped publish numerous novels and comic books set in his universe, while also giving the green light to The Clone Wars animated show. Later, with the proper budget, and the growing audience of streaming television, Disney Plus sanctioned multiple live-action television shows, further expanding the franchise. At the same time, the literary works on Star Wars stories continued under Marvel Comics.

Still, the franchise is well known for a more encyclopedic canon, but probably more so because of management reshuffles and the fact that Lucasfilm transitioned into a whole new team of producers, writers, and executives, leaving Star Wars canon to suffer. And after the Mouse House’s official de-canonization of certain materials, things have gotten more confusing for the hardcore fans who are deeply involved in unraveling the lore.

Star Wars has many lead and notable characters, with their stories spanning several years and eras. At the same time, the in-universe events intertwine at many points. In this tightly constructed and interwoven franchise, the limitation of exploring stories within the Skywalker Saga makes it difficult to place everything correctly. The Acolyte, Skeleton Crew, and the films may take the fans further across the galaxy with new characters and somewhat unrelated stories, effectively taking Star Wars into a new phase.

Till then, here’s a glimpse at the timeline order in which Star Wars unravels in chronological order across film and television:

• Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars [2008 movie]
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars
• Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch
• Solo: A Star Wars Story
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• Star Wars: Rebels
• Andor
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• Star Wars: A New Hope
• Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
• The Mandalorian [seasons 1 and 2]
• The Book of Boba Fett
• The Mandalorian [season 3]
• Star Wars Resistance [season 1]
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Star Wars: Resistance [season 2]
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker