George Lucas was famously so enamoured of Samuel L Jackson’s swashbuckling turn as Jedi master Mace Windu in the Star Wars prequels that he granted the Pulp Fiction star’s request for a unique purple lightsaber. Now Jackson has laid into the laser-sword battles in new episode The Force Awakens, calling for cast members Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver to up their game in future episodes.
Speaking to ABC News’s Pete Travers about JJ Abrams’s critically-acclaimed space opera sequel, Jackson offered only muted praise for the new film, which has smashed box office records on both sides of the Atlantic.
“It’s done in the spirit of the Star Wars films,” he said. “It’s adventuresome and exciting in a way. I think the kids need to go to lightsaber fight school, but that’s just me thinking that. They’ve got time to get better.”
Jackson also revealed on Tuesday, during an appearance on the Seth Meyers talk show, that he had only ever intended to make a cameo in the prequel films. “I just want to run across the screen,” he revealed, but said when he turned up for filming in London he was handed Jedi robes.
“Then somebody came in and gave me some sides,” Jackson said. “I was like, ‘Who’s this?’ They said, ‘Well, Mace Windu is you.’ ‘Oh. Wait, I’m talking to Yoda? OK, all right! So I’m definitely not dying right now!’ Then somebody came in with a haliburton full of lightsaber handles and said ‘pick one’ and I about died.”
In other Star War news, the latest ambitious fan theory regarding The Force Awakens’ mysterious First Order villain Supreme Leader Snoke suggests the character could be Darth Vader brought back from the dead. Fans have previously focused on a Sith Lord mentioned in the prequels, Darth Plagueis, when trying to come up with plausible arguments as to Snoke’s true identity. But the new theory points out that both villains have a large dent on the right hand side of their heads.
#StarWars #Snoke #DarthVader #StarWarsTheForceAwakens pic.twitter.com/pK9sQLCGlx
— BlanketBros Podcast (@blanketbros) January 6, 2016
Not all fans were convinced, however, with many quipping that there were surely alternative suggestions as to Snoke’s true identity.
It's hidden in plain sight. #SNOKE is FIRE MARSHAL BILL!!! pic.twitter.com/AFzMPd3pre
— Mark E Sutter (@MarkESutter) January 7, 2016
I just don't know what to believe now... #snoketheory #starwars #snoke #jabba #jabbathehutt #forceawakens #theforce… pic.twitter.com/PEfLneGpLX
— RogueSquadronPodcast (@RogueSquadPod) January 6, 2016
He was once known as Smiegols, and after the next #StarWars, he will be known as Supreme Leader #Snoke. pic.twitter.com/7CZR9oFn18
— Thomas (@BillsFanatBirth) January 4, 2016
