(Note: This post includes at least one spoiler about a joke in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”)
“The Last Jedi” has kicked up a nuanced discussion among moviegoers and fans on social media about the ideas of failure and the aging of heroes, how people are shaped by failure and how we should embrace the past by moving forward.
Just kidding. It’s been a tire fire of nonsense. The side that loves the movie seems to think everyone who doesn’t is an idiot. The side that doesn’t like the movie is overrun with overzealous “Star Wars” fans who think it’s a good idea to make petitions to have movies they don’t like deleted from the world — and there are plenty who just hate “The Last Jedi” for straight-up sexist and racist reasons.
Finally there are the people in the middle, who might be lukewarm on the movie, but who at least agree that we all miss Carrie Fisher and that Mark Hamill is amazing in it. No matter where you stand, The Discourse about “The Last Jedi” is pretty insufferable.
It’s been tough to discover interesting discussions and takes about “The Last Jedi” amid the noise, which was why I was struck by this particular viral tweet.
ppl are hung up on who rey's dad is & meanwhile chewie is right there. driving her to jedi practice. keeping the engine running. dropping her off to meet the new boyfriend he doesn't exactly approve of, but just tells her to get home safe. her search for a father figure is OVER
It’s not a new phenomenon that Chewie has been passed over and ignored for the credit he is rightly due. Even way back in “A New Hope,” the first time Chewie appeared on screen, he was constantly disrespected. Han and Luke pretended Chewie was their dumb alien prisoner so they could save Princess Leia. He didn’t even get a medal at the end of the movie, even though Luke and Han did. But Chewie went through as much danger as anyone else, and he was part of the two-man team flying the Millennium Falcon when it saved Luke when he took his shot to destroy the Death Star.
Really, a guy fails to fix a hyperdrive a few times in life-or-death situations, or puts one droid together backwards, and suddenly everyone thinks it’s OK to shout at him. Just because he’s furry and no one can understand him, he gets stuck hanging out with a bunch of Ewoks.
Things haven’t gotten any better. In “The Last Jedi,” Chewie waits for days while Rey gets her Jedi training going with Luke, and he can’t even enjoy a meal without a guilt trip from some random cute animal. He helps Rey execute all her bad plans to visit Kylo Ren and never even argues. In a movie franchise in which every character who wanders into the frame is getting a novel, a comic, or a video game to run down their backstory, Chewbacca is continually overlooked.
But the idea that Chewbacca as the dad everyone in “Star Wars” deserves is actually a read that works pretty well. In fact, this is not the first time the idea that Chewie is a bigger deal to the “Star Wars” universe than we realize. The best fan theory I’ve ever read, which you can find right here, is one that posits that Chewie is actually a key figure in the Rebellion that no one ever talks about.
Written by a fan named Keith Martin, the theory reconsiders “A New Hope,” the first “Star Wars” movie, in light of the changes and retcons that are part of the story in “Revenge of the Sith,” the sixth movie. It runs with the idea that Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Bail Organa created the beginnings of the Rebellion at the close of “Revenge of the Sith.” Obi-Wan takes baby Luke to Tatooine to be raised by Anakin Skywalker’s step-family, the Larses. Bail takes baby Leia and raises her. Yoda heads to Dagobah to hide out. But they’re not the only ones around who would probably be rebels. There are three other characters from the original trilogy who are around for the prequels as well: C-3PO, R2-D2, and — wait for it — Chewbacca.
It turns out that Chewie was a military commander before he was a small-time crook’s driver. In “Revenge of the Sith,” we see that Yoda knew Chewie at the Battle of Kashyyyk, one of the last military engagements of the prequels during the Clone Wars. And as Martin’s fan theory posits, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Bail couldn’t really handle forming an insurrection on their own. Even if they had other Rebel Alliance founders such as Mon Mothma immediately on-hand, they would still need actual agents out in the galaxy, gathering information and finding other potential allies.
As Martin has it, Chewie would be an obvious choice to be a spy. He used to be a general, but now he takes orders from a not-especially-great smuggler? That doesn’t seem like it makes a ton of sense.
But assume that Chewie’s hanging out with Han because it affords him ample opportunities to make contacts and gather intelligence, and suddenly his life choices seem a little smarter. Flying around the galaxy, Chewie could sneak around the bars and allies of planet after planet, finding out all kinds of useful information. And when he finally joins back up with Obi-Wan and R2-D2, he’d potentially have way more knowledge about what’s going on than anyone else. Chewbacca might not be taking center stage, but that’s because good spies don’t let on what they’re up to.
Chewie has always been an unsung hero of “Star Wars” by that logic. Chewie is a part of every major military action of the movies. And while Han Solo and Lando Calrissian attain the rank of general in the Rebellion, nobody makes Chewbacca a commander. Why? Because he’s more effective as a secret operative. Nobody suspects Space Mr. Bean. Martin suggests Chewie didn’t get a medal, not because he wasn’t offered one, but because he turned it down.
In the new trilogy, Chewbacca left the Resistance with Han, but he could have been reprising his role in feeding information back to Leia — or he could have finally been trying to take it easy after years of fighting.
But then Rey and Finn come along, pulling Han and Chewie back into the goings-on of the galaxy. Chewie might still be the butt of a few jokes in the movie, but he quickly proves he’s still a capable soldier, and when his best friend is killed, Chewie finds himself suddenly staring down military might of the Empire, back in full force.
So when Rey heads out to find Luke Skywalker at the end of “The Force Awakens,” Chewie goes with her. Not because he needs a new side to kick, but because he’s the Resistance’s best man. Leia sends Chewie with the Resistance’s potentially most powerful new asset, to find their most powerful old one. He’s the Columbo of “Star Wars” — everybody thinks he’s just some dork, but he’s secretly smarter than everyone.
By that read of “Star Wars,” which is obviously the right and true read, Chewie’s not just the soccer dad of “Star Wars,” driving Rey to her Jedi appointments and supporting her as she tries to deal with her bad boy beau Kylo Ren. He’s a Liam Neeson dad of the “Taken” variety. He’ll hang out in the background with the porgs. He’ll let other people do the heroing. But if anything happens to Rey, expect that Chewbacca will find you, and he will kill you. And he’ll turn down the medal they offer him when he’s done.
Get this wookiee a tie-in novel already.
34 Celebrities You Probably Didn't Know Were in 'Star Wars' Movies (Photos)
The "Star Wars" franchise -- now just about 43 years old -- is full of secret cameos, soon-to-be-famous actors in small bit parts, and well-known faces behind alien masks and makeup. Here are 34 big names hidden throughout the franchise you might not have known about, up to and including "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."
Lucasfilm
John Ratzenberger ("The Empire Strikes Back")
Ratzenberger is best remembered as know-it-all postman Cliff Clavin from "Cheers," or maybe his numerous voice roles in Pixar movies. In "The Empire Strikes Back," Ratzenberger is one of the Rebel officers hanging around Echo Base on Hoth with Princess Leia and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels).
Lucasfilm
Treat Williams ("The Empire Strikes Back")
When you're Treat Williams, you can wander onto the set of "The Empire Strikes Back" and find yourself in the movie. Williams reportedly dropped by England's Elstree Studios set, where the movie was being filmed, to visit Carrie Fisher. Apparently one thing led to another, and now Williams plays one of the Rebel troops running around Echo Base on Hoth.
Lucasfilm
Julian Glover ("The Empire Strikes Back")
Julian Glover's General Veers is probably the most competent officer available to Darth Vader as wanders the galaxy looking for the Rebels and Luke Skywalker. He'd be decidedly less competent as Grand Maester Pycelle on "Game of Thrones," but decidedly more evil as Nazi collaborator Walter Donovan in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (you know -- the guy who ages super fast after drinking from the wrong grail).
Lucasfilm
Tony Cox ("Return of the Jedi")
In an Ewok suit, you'd never know Tony Cox appeared in "Return of the Jedi." He wouldn't really show off his acting chops until later when he was stealing scenes all over comedies like "Bad Santa," where he was Billy Bob Thornton's much-smarter mall-robbing accomplice/Christmas elf, and "Me, Myself and Irene."
Lucasfilm
Deep Roy ("Return of the Jedi")
It's easiest to remember Deep Roy in the Johnny Depp-starring "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," since Roy played every orange oompa-loompa in that movie. In "Return of the Jedi," he was both an Ewok and the puffy alien band member Droopy McCool in Jabba's Palace. Deep Roy also worked on "The Empire Strikes Back," acting as a stand-in for the muppet Yoda.
Lucasfilm
Keira Knightley (“The Phantom Menace”)
Knightley wasn’t just any handmaiden in “The Phantom Menace” — she was the handmaiden. Serving as the decoy for the real queen, Knightley was the actress people thought was Amidala for half the movie, before Natalie Portman’s Padmé revealed her true identity.
Lucasfilm
Peter Serafinowicz ("The Phantom Menace")
Marvel Cinematic Universe fans will recognize Peter Seafinowicz for his turn as untrusting Nova Corps officer Garthan Saal in "Guardians of the Galaxy." He didn't appear in "The Phantom Menace," but provided the gravely, frightening voice of Darth Maul (the rest of whom was played by Ray Park), as well as for a gungan warrior and a battle droid.
Lucasfilm
Dominic West ("The Phantom Menace")
The prequel trilogy was filled with actors who would go on to do great things, but who were mostly filling small or background roles in the "Star Wars" universe. Dominic West's character in "The Phantom Menace" was an otherwise nondescript member of Queen Amidala's palace guard -- nothing so interesting as his later turn as Jimmy McNulty on HBO's "The Wire."
Lucasfilm
Sofia Coppola (“The Phantom Menace”)
There really were a mess of these handmaidens. Before she was a full-time director, Sofia Coppola picked up a few small acting gigs, including the handmaiden Saché in “The Phantom Menace.” Just a few years after the 1999 movie, in 2003, Coppola would pick up a Best Director Academy Award nomination for “Lost in Translation.”
Lucasfilm
Sally Hawkins ("The Phantom Menace")
Before she was an Academy Award-nominated actress for her role in "Blue Jasmine," Sally Hawkins was an extra in the giant celebration scene in "The Phantom Menace." She admitted in an interview with Conan O'Brien that she'd never actually seen the movie, despite being in it.
Team Coco/Lucasfilm
Richard Armitage ("The Phantom Menace")
Blink and you'd miss Richard Armitage's small background role (second from the right in the background) among the guards on Naboo. Although, it's tough to recognize him without the lustrous locks Armitage sported in "The Hobbit" as Thorin Oakenshield, or the creepy teeth from his turn as killer Francis Dolarhyde in "Hannibal" Season 3 on NBC.
Lucasfilm
Rose Byrne (“Attack of the Clones”)
Before she was a mainstay of the “Insidious” movies alongside Patrick Wilson or had joined the “X-Men” franchise as CIA Agent Moira MacTaggert, Rose Byrne was one of the handmaidens serving Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) in the “Star Wars” prequels. Specifically, she was Dormé, who accompanied Padmé to Coruscant to do government things.
Lucasfilm
Martin Csokas ("Attack of the Clones")
The "Star Wars" movies have slipped a few notable actors into the voice roles of aliens. Martin Csokas is one -- he provided the voice of the Geonosian alien Poggle the Lesser in "Attack of the Clones." Fantasy fans probably know him better as the elf Celeborn, husband to Cate Blanchett's Galadriel in "The Lord of the Rings."
For more features and deep dives into the world of "Star Wars" and the culture surrounding it, be sure to check out IMDb's "Star Wars" hub.
Lucasfilm
Joel Edgerton (“Attack of the Clones,” “Revenge of the Sith”)
Luke’s moisture-farming, humorless uncle Owen Lars was young once, but he was never not a guy who stood around a crappy homestead on Tatooine. In the prequel movies, the role was picked up by Joel Edgerton of “Loving” and “The Great Gatsby.”
Lucasfilm
Bai Ling ("Revenge of the Sith")
Bai Ling actually doesn't appear in "Revenge of the Sith," but she was supposed to. Her scene as Senator Bana Breemu was cut from the film. But there are things you definitely have seen her in, including "Crank: High Voltage," "The Crow" and "Entourage."
Lucasfilm
Keisha Castle-Hughes ("Revenge of the Sith")
Sometime after Padmé's term as queen had ended by "Revenge of the Sith," the wise people of Naboo apparently elected another teenager queen: Queen Apailana, played by Keisha Castle-Hughes. Apailana is seen at Padmé's funeral, and Castle-Hughes is known for "The Whale Rider" and appearing on "The Walking Dead."
Lucasfilm
Simon Pegg (“The Force Awakens”)
Another secret cameo, Pegg is covered in alien costume work as the junk dealer Unkar Plutt on Jakku. He’s the guy who gives Rei less than what her salvage is probably worth.
Lucasfilm
Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz (“The Force Awakens”)
You’d think the last thing a droid like BB-8 would require is a voice, given that he’s a robot and speaks in bleeps and bloops. But to get the sound and personality just right, director J.J. Abrams enlisted comedians Bill Hader (formerly of “SNL”) and Ben Schwartz (well-known for playing Jean-Ralphio on “Parks and Rec”).
Lucasfilm
Thomas Brodie-Sangster (“The Force Awakens”)
“Game of Thrones” might have noticed a familiar First Order officer during shots of the bridge of the Starkiller Base. It was Jojen Reed, Bran Stark’s loyal friend, who also plays Newt in the “Maze Runner” franchise.
Lucasfilm
Daniel Craig (“The Force Awakens”)
It was something of a news item at the time, but James Bond slipped in a secret cameo in the first “Star Wars” film in a decade — as a stormtrooper. He’s the guard that Rei manages to Jedi mind trick into releasing her.
Lucasfilm
Billie Lourd (“The Force Awakens”)
Billie Lourd sneaked into Lucasfilm’s revival of “Star Wars” as Lt. Connix, one of the Resistance fighters running tactical machinery in the base of General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Known for her hilarious turn as Chanel No. 3 on the horror-comedy series “Scream Queens,” she’s also Fisher’s daughter.
Lucasfilm
Harriet Walter ("The Force Awakens")
Playing a Resistance medic who helps out Chewbacca, "Downton Abbey" alumna Harriet Walter gets a short but sweet cameo in "The Force Awakens." She actually has one of the movie's funnier moments as she talks to Chewie about how scary his ordeal must have been.
Lucasfilm
Rian Johnson ("Rogue One")
The director of 2017's "The Last Jedi" actually made a cameo in 2016's "Rogue One" along with producer Ram Bergman as members of the gunner crew of the Death Star.
Lucasfilm
Justin Theroux ("The Last Jedi")
Casting "The Leftovers" star Justin Theroux as the unnamed super-great slicer Finn and Rose are looking for is a fun cameo that winds up being a misdirection and a fun joke. Instead, the pair find Benicio del Toro's DJ to take over the job.
Lucasfilm
Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("The Last Jedi")
Director Rian Johnson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt collaborated on the 2005 movie "Brick," the director's first feature-length movie. JGL makes the most of their friendship by voicing an alien in the "Star Wars" universe called Slowen Lo, a riff on the Beastie Boys song "Slow & Low." He's the guy who's really upset about Finn and Rose's bad parking job.
Tom Hardy ("The Last Jedi")
Taking a page from Daniel Craig's cameo in "The Force Awakens," Tom Hardy grabbed a stormtrooper uniform to appear in "The Last Jedi." His scene (which also featured Princes William and Harry) was deleted, unfortunately, but it finds him in an elevator with an incognito Finn, Rose and DJ as they sneak around the First Order ship midway through the movie. Hardy's trooper recognizes Finn and congratulates him on the promotion his uniform suggests, even giving him a supportive smack on the butt.
Ralph Ineson ("The Last Jedi")
Another famous face appearing in the deleted sequence aboard the First Order ship is Ralph Ineson, star of "The Witch." He plays an officer who immediately recognizes that Finn and Rose don't belong. He pops up later with a detachment of stormtroopers to catch the impostors for real.
Lucasfilm
Gareth Edwards ("The Last Jedi")
Edwards gave Rian Johnson a cameo in "Rogue One," so the director repaid the favor by making Edwards one of the Resistance troopers standing their ground on Crait. He's the guy who looks incredulously at the trooper who decided to taste the ground.
Lucasfilm
Clint Howard ("Solo")
Director Ron Howard's brother Clint is a well-known actor whose career goes all the back to the original "Star Trek" series. He pops up in a cameo role, as seen in this photo from his Twitter account, as a particularly mean guy in "Solo" who runs a droid fighting pit -- and gets a rough talking to by Lando's droid companion, L3.
Twitter
Jon Favreau ("Solo")
The "Iron Man" director (who also plays Happy Hogan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and star of "Swingers" doesn't fully appear in "Solo," but his voice does -- he plays Rio Durant, the multi-armed member of Tobias Beckett's crew. Favreau gets to be the jokey member of the heist crew in the movie and acts as pilot, despite Han complaining that he wants the job.
Lucasfilm
Jodie Comer ("The Rise of Skywalker")
Comer, of "Killing Eve" fame, made a very surprising appearance in flashbacks as Rey's mom.
John Williams ("The Rise of Skywalker")
Williams has provided the score for every main series "Star Wars" film, but he'd never done a cameo in any of them until he popped up in the bar on Kijimi where our heroes meet Babu Frik.
Lin-Manuel Miranda ("The Rise of Skywalker")
The "Hamilton" and "In the Heights" creator wrote a song for "The Force Awakens," but this time around he got to actually appear on screen for a very brief moment during the Resistance's celebration at the end of the film
1 of 34
The ”Star Wars“ franchise is full of famous people you had no idea were there
The "Star Wars" franchise -- now just about 43 years old -- is full of secret cameos, soon-to-be-famous actors in small bit parts, and well-known faces behind alien masks and makeup. Here are 34 big names hidden throughout the franchise you might not have known about, up to and including "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."