The actor played Mace Windu in the 'Star Wars' prequel trilogy and reprised the role for voiceovers in later projects.
Samuel L. Jackson is just as eager to get back to the Star Wars franchise as fans are for him to make a return. During a recent live taping of the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the Last Days of Ptolemy Grey star revealed that he's lobbied for his Jedi Master character, Mace Windu, to make a return much like how other past franchise stars have made it back into the fold in recent years.
"There's a huge history of people with one hand returning in Star Wars,'" Jackson joked, referring to both Anakin Skywalker severing his character's right hand before his eventual murder by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, as well as the multiple Skywalkers who have lost a hand.
Jackson played Mace in the Star Wars prequel trilogy alongside stars Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) and Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala). He reprised the role for the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and voiced the character in 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. The character has also appeared in various Star Wars books, comics and video games, as well as the Clone Wars television series voiced by Terrence C. Carson.
According to Jackson, there's a good possibility that Mace survived his fall in 2005's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, after being blasted by Force lightning. He's so sure that he went to Bryce Dallas Howard, who has directed episodes of both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, about making it happen.
"I asked — the only person I’ve ever said that to, about coming back, was Bryce Dallas Howard, 'cause I just did a movie with her, and she directs episodes of The Mandalorian," he revealed. "Said, 'So you think you might be able to hook a brother up? I mean, you like me, right?' She's like, 'I love you, you're amazing!' 'So put me back in! Put me in coach, I'm ready! I'll learn to lightsaber left-handed. Come on.'"
Fans will have to see if his lobbying comes to fruition!
Obi-Wan Kenobi, the newest Star Wars spinoff series from Lucasfilm, is slated to premiere on May 25 on Disney+. The news comes as The Book of Boba Fett debuted its final chapter, bringing the fan-favorite character’s saga to a close.
Obi-Wan Kenobi sees McGregor reprising his role as the titular Jedi master, with the series picking up with him 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. At the time, Kenobi suffered his greatest defeat as his apprentice and friend, Anakin Skywalker (Christensen), turned to the dark side and became Sith Lord Darth Vader.
In addition to McGregor, Christensen will return as Vader while Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse reprise their roles from the prequels as Owen Lars and Beru Lars, Luke Skywalker’s surrogate parents.
“It was such an incredible journey playing Anakin Skywalker,” Christensen said when his return was announced. “Of course, Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t on the greatest of terms when we last saw them... It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I'm excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”
“The most beautiful thing of all is that it’s brought me back together with Hayden,” McGregor said later. “[Having] another swing at each other might be satisfying for everybody. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy making it.”
Watch the video below for more on Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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