Samuel L. Jacksonis convinced that Mace Windu is alive. As fans already know, Jackson played the incredibly powerful Jedi Master in all three of George Lucas’Star Warsprequels. But in the new issue of Empire magazine, which celebratesStar Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace’s25th anniversary, Jackson insists that Windu lives on. Jackson succinctly said in his interview withEmpire:
HE’S NOT DEAD!!!
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
InStar Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,it sure seems like Windu dies. After all, the Jedi is hurled out through the broken window in Chancellor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) office by a ton of the future Emperor’s snapping and crackling Force lightning. But if somehow, someway, the Jedi Master was able to survive that fall, Jackson is ready and willing to do anything in a Disney+ series which centers around Mace Windu. Jackson said in the same interview:
EVERYTHING YES!!
If Windu did survive Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Palpatine’s wrath, and after the Jedi recuperated, it’d be interesting to tell Windu’s story between the events ofRevenge of the SithandStar Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. If Windu is really alive, it’s hard to fathom why he wouldn’t resurface and try to stop Darth Vader and the Emperor’s galactic rule, even if he didn’t know Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Yoda (Frank Oz) were still alive.
Becoming Mace Windu
The only problem with Samuel L. Jackson’s appearances in theStar Warsprequel trilogy is that his character, Mace Windu, doesn’t have enough to do. Fans caught a glimpse of what could have been, though, when Master Windu and Palpatine engaged in their epic lightsaber battle before Anakin turned to the Dark side.
Today, even co-starEwan McGregor realizes how beloved the prequels are, but the criticism those films have faced over the years never bothered Jackson, and he told Howard Stern as much back in 2016. Jackson also admitted to lovingStar Wars, and he even asked if he could be in the prequels while on a talk show back in the day. “I’d love to be inStar Wars,” Jackson said.
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Jackson didn’t really give what he said very much thought while on the talk show. However, while shooting his next film,Sphere(1998), someone told the actor that George Lucas wanted to meet him. And since Skywalker Ranch was close by, Jackson went and visited with Lucas.The creator ofStar Warswasn’t exactly sure how to use him in the script forThe Phantom Menace, which Lucas was still writing at the time. Jackson wanted to be in the movies so badly that he told Lucas (viaThe Howard Stern Show):
“Look, man… put me in one of those white suits and let me run across screen. Nobody even needs to know. I’ll be a Stormtrooper… nobody even needs to know […] And all of a sudden, months later, they called, and I ended up being a Jedi.”
TheStar Warsprequels are available to stream on Disney+ at the time of this writing.
