Star Wars has been the subject of memes and in-jokes amongst fans for decades now, and the franchise has taken one of the most absurd of these and made it official in the most recent teaser trailer for an upcoming Disney+ Star Wars show.

Star Wars is the pinnacle of the science fiction space opera genre that has become the very picture of the hero’s journey in the popular consciousness. Originally created with the first film in 1977 by George Lucas, the franchise has since grown massive with three distinct trilogies with massive numbers at the box office and all sorts of spin-offs, adaptations, and merchandising over the span of several decades. The franchise has always had a large number of interesting characters and memorable moments, leading to a plethora of memes propped up by the community and the revelation that some Star Wars memes even exist in-universe as well. In recent years, social media has made all these even more prominent than before.

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One of the most curious Star Wars memes that are still prevalent is the faux conspiracy theory that the Gungan character Jar Jar Binks is secretly a Dark Lord of the Sith that had willingly brought about Sidious’ reign when he moved to grant the then-Chancellor of the Republic emergency powers at the onset of the Clone Wars. Much to fan delight, the oft-repeated joke now has some official backing by way of a teaser trailer released to the official Star Wars YouTube channel. The trailer, serving as promotional material for upcoming Disney+ project LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, gives fans a diverse look at the content of the upcoming project. Close to the end of the teaser, fans see a darkened Millennium Falcon descend onto Mos Eisley, with a LEGO Jar Jar stepping out of it decked in Darth Vader’s suit and wielding a red lightsaber.

Just in case some fans miss the joke, the character immediately says, “Mesa going to hurt yousa” before the purported victim Sig exclaims, “Darth Jar Jar?” This idea was already played into a bit in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated show, which featured an episode where hostiles mistook Jar Jar for a force-sensitive Jedi master due to the character donning one of the Order’s signature robes. However, this was without the fairly important weight of the fact that everyone who likes Star Wars seemingly hated Jar Jar, despite the character actually being on the side of good in all of his prior appearances. It was this animosity that made fans envision a Jar Jar taken over by the power of the Dark Side, and now they get to see that vision made manifest.

This official version of the meme is certainly well-timed, as appreciation for Jar Jar Binks has risen significantly, thanks in no small part to Ahmed Best. The star, who fans still expect to tell the whole story of his time as Jar Jar someday, was recently brought back into the franchise as a much less divisive character and has made many enjoyers of the franchise feel remorse for the hostility towards his first character. Sentiment towards the prequels has also softened considerably over time as well, and as the root of the Jar Jar hatred is his role as the mascot of the prequels, this has had a good effect on his popularity as well. So now the fans find themselves well-placed to enjoy this old joke coming to life in the upcoming project.

Fans will have to wait for the release date to see just how much of a threat Darth Jar Jar really is or if this silly Sith Lord is being set up to fail his combat duties once more. Whichever way things go, it looks like everyone will be in for a good time.

The Star Wars franchise is currently available to stream on Disney+, with LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy debuting on September 13, 2023.

Star Wars

Star Wars is a multimedia franchise originally created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy of movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other media like comics, video games, tv shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.

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