The “evil Jar Jar Binks” Star Wars fan theory has some truth in it, says his actor
Ahmed Best hints that plans to reveal his character as a Sith Lord may have been shelved
In the run-up to the release of Star Wars episode VII: The Force Awakens, it was everybody’s favourite theory – bumbling CGI character Jar Jar Binks from the much-maligned prequels would be revealed as an evil Sith Lord, his inept exterior merely a cover for the immense power within him (much like Yoda’s façade when he first meets Luke).
Subsequently there were trailers made, fanart drawn and careful frame-by-frame analysis of Jar Jar’s impact in the Galactic Senate (he WAS the one who gave Palpatine his emergency powers after all), and all in all it was a lot of fun with a very silly theory.
But now Jar Jar Binks motion capture and voice actor Ahmed Best has revealed that there could actually be some truth to the idea – and that the plan might have been shelved after the character received a poor reaction from audiences. Wesa gonna be reelin' for days.
“What I can say about it is – and I kinda said this on Twitter –there's a lot about it thats true,” Best says in a new interview for Star Wars reunion webseries These Are The Actors You’re Looking For (below), where he also tried out a terrifying Darth Jar Jar voice.
“There are some things that are not true. Could Jar Jar have evolved into that? I think the answer is yes.
“Because of the backlash, and rightly so, Lucasfilm backed off from Jar Jar a lot. But a lot of the influence I put into Jar Jar mirrored a lot of what was already in the Star Wars universe.
“Was there an official Darth Jar Jar in the works? That’s really a George Lucas question, I cannot answer that question."
Best pointed to a deleted scene from third prequel movie Revenge of the Sith which could support the theory, where Jar Jar and Palpatine were supposed to discuss the future of the Republic.
“It was just me and Palpatine walking down the runway, talking about the plans to turn the Empire into what it had turned out to be,” Best recalled.
“It was a very dark, very personal, quiet scene, but for some reason Palpatine decided to confide in Jar Jar that pretty much he was going to wreak havoc. Wherever that scene is, that would really give great credibility to the Darth Jar Jar theory.
“I really liked that scene and it got cut from the movie because Jar Jar was so unpopular, in my opinion.”
However, the actor says we shouldn’t expect to see the theory become a reality in the new movies – because he’s pretty sure new Star Wars owners Disney will be keen to move on from the prequels.
“From what I've seen, Disney wants the prequels to just be what it was, I don't think they're looking to the prequels at all," he concluded.
Probably for the best - we can only imagine the damage Sith Jar Jar's tongue could cause in a battle, and we're not sure if we want to see that footage in the flesh.
