10 Times Star Wars Gave Fans Exactly What They Wanted
Long-awaited Force Ghosts, epic returns, and more times Star Wars delivered fans the goods.
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00:00From jaw-dropping rematches that more than lived up to the hype, to the long-awaited
00:04return of some of the galaxy's most cherished figures, Star Wars fans may not be able to
00:09agree on most things when it pertains to this corner of space, but next to no one will argue
00:14with the following moments all being instances of force-infused fan service done right.
00:20Gareth here from WhatCultureStarWars and here are 10 times Star Wars gave fans exactly what
00:25they wanted.
00:2610.
00:27Rematch of the Century Most of the attention was quite rightly focused
00:31on a certain rematch of the century coming into Disney Plus' Obi-Wan Kenobi.
00:35Yet instead of simply carting out the two former brothers-in-arms to duke it out just
00:40the once, after spending nearly two decades away from the Star Wars spotlight, Deborah
00:45Chow and Kathleen Kennedy gifted fans with the sight of Ewan McGregor in Hayden Christensen's
00:49Ben Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker-slash-Darth Vader crossing lightsabers on three separate
00:55and wholly satisfying occasions.
00:57And Obi-Wan absolute mauling at the hands of the rage-fueled Dark Lord in Part 3 was
01:02eventually followed by a digitally de-aged bout of training between Master and Padawan
01:07from before the Clone Wars in Part 5.
01:09And if that was not enough, the iconic figures were given one last chance to truly let loose
01:14against one another in the series finale, with Kenobi reverting back to a classic stance,
01:19Vader finally getting the high ground, and a merging of Christensen and James Earl Jones'
01:24unmistakable voices post-mask-smashing all leaving fans needing a serious lie-down.
01:299.
01:30Han Solo completes the Kessel Run
01:33Let's face it, Solo a Star Wars story will not go down in history as one of the most
01:37universally beloved tales ever told in this galaxy far, far away.
01:41But that's not to say that every aspect of this prequel feature can be deemed as a
01:45complete and utter failure upon a rewatch.
01:47In fact, arguably one of the most mythical stories ever to tumble out of a much-loved
01:51character's mouth was finally and brilliantly realised on the big screen in Ron Howard's
01:56space adventure.
01:58After years of banging on about his trusty Millennium Falcon being the mighty ship that
02:02was able to make the perilous, multiple-black-hole-boasting Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs, Disney finally
02:07rewarded fans with the concrete evidence of the legendary Solo genuinely pulling off this
02:12mesmerising feat within their 2018 outing – thanks to an inspired shortcut, of course.
02:17Sure, the origins of the titular icon's last name, among many other frustrating elements
02:21within this dud of a flick, may not have excited the masses.
02:25But you'd be lying if you said you weren't even a little bit thrilled by this sequence
02:29of Solo finally living up to his legend.
02:318.
02:32Ahsoka comes face-to-face with Vader
02:34Throughout the massively embraced Clone Wars animated series, one character alone stood
02:39as the undoubted MVP of these prequel tales – Ahsoka Tano.
02:44Even with the fierce figure acting as Anakin Skywalker's Padawan in her time before leaving
02:48the Jedi Order behind, fans were always somewhat curious as to what would have gone down if
02:52the former Master and Apprentice crossed paths once again in the wake of the former's tragic
02:56fall to the deck, said.
02:58Well March 2016's Twilight of the Apprentice Rebels' hour-long special finale to Season
03:032 finally provided Skyguy supporters with that exact scenario.
03:08And boy did it deliver on the emotional gut-punch front, matching each other blow-for-blow during
03:12their instantly immortalised showdown on Malachor.
03:15Tano's slashing of Vader's helmet stunningly mirrors the moment Obi-Wan Kenobi does something
03:20similar to his one-time ally in the recent live-action series.
03:24And just like that emotionally charged beat, a flicker of the Skywalker within is enough
03:28to fool Ahsoka into thinking there's still hope for her former master, as she confesses
03:33that she won't leave him, not this time.
03:35It may have been something fans were fantasising about for an age, but that still doesn't
03:39mean they were ready for Vader's attempts to murder another piece of his past.
03:437.
03:44Maul vs. Kenobi One Last Time
03:46What appeared to be a rather fatal conclusion for Darth Maul during his Duel of the Fates
03:50skirmish with Obi-Wan Kenobi, merely provided the foundations for one of the most iconic
03:55rivalries in the galaxy.
03:56Spending much of the Clone Wars obsessed with exacting revenge on the Jedi Knight, after
04:01being revealed to have miraculously survived his chopping in half, the pair's destinies
04:05appeared to be forever intertwined.
04:07It was until Maul finally tracked down his long-time adversary on Tatooine many years
04:12after the fall of the Jedi Order and the Republic.
04:14Maul and Kenobi collide on the desert sands as the former becomes wise to the reasons
04:19behind the latter's stay on the planet.
04:21Short, sweet and deeply impactful, Kenobi aptly cuts down his old enemy using Qui-Gon's
04:27old stance.
04:28Brings a tear to your eye, but in another rather poetic turn of events, the tortured
04:32Dathomirian then peacefully passes on in Kenobi's arms, with the knowledge of Luke very much
04:37being the chosen one tasked with avenging them both.
04:40An appropriate ending fit for a horned icon.
04:426.
04:43THE RETURN OF BOBA FETT From the second a certain Beskar-sporting
04:46badass was accidentally sent flying into a sarlacc pit, fans were already banging the
04:51drum to see the return of the coolest bounty hunter in the galaxy.
04:55And while few were expecting it to take a whopping near four decades to see him dust
04:59off that aforementioned dance with death, the reality of Temuera Morrison stepping back
05:03into the Fett saddle in Disney Plus' The Mandalorian, after his turns as Jango and
05:08many a clone, was enough to produce a smile from just about every Star Wars fan in the
05:12galaxy.
05:13Now sure, his long-awaited spin-off may not have quite lived up to the hype in the end,
05:17with the book of Boba Fett's finest moments arguably taking place without a Boba in sight,
05:21but the presence of this now multi-layered and battle-hardened daimyo will always be
05:25welcome on the big and small screen in future space-aged entries.
05:29So here's hoping Morrison gets his wish of bringing the legend back to his badass
05:33ways, should he blast his way back into the Mandalorian or other corners of this galaxy
05:37far far away in the coming years.
05:395.
05:40Luke Skywalker in his prime
05:42Few Star Wars moments will ever be able to match the sheer level of surprise conjured
05:46up by Dave Filoni and the gang in the closing stages of the second season of their Disney
05:51Plus live-action bibi.
05:52Going to frankly absurd lengths to keep this undoubtedly moving return a secret, even digitally
05:57rendering a graphic of Plo Koon's head to lace on top of the performance to keep those
06:01behind the scenes from uncovering the shocking truth, none other than Luke Bloody Skywalker
06:06was unleashed on a troupe of Dark Troopers late in the day, combining barmy digital de-aging
06:11effects when utilising Mark Hamill himself, with the performance of a very much present
06:16actor in the form of stand-in Max Lloyd-Jones.
06:19Fans not only witnessed the surreal visual of the mythical figure recruiting Grogu to
06:22his new Jedi academy, but they were also treated to a sequence depicting Luke in full flight
06:27with a lightsaber, as he expertly dispatches the seemingly unstoppable superbot horde.
06:33Whether you're a fan of the technology used to realise this stunning moment or not, it's
06:36still no doubt brought a tear to your eye seeing Luke Skywalker once again here to rescue
06:41you.
06:424.
06:43Darth Vader finally rages
06:44Where Luke Skywalker's eventual brandishing of his green blade in the Mandalorian brought
06:48with it a sense of safe and secure familiarity, the same most definitely could not be said
06:53for the moment which sees his pops unleash his iconic red blade aboard a Rebel command
06:57ship in Rogue One.
06:59After years of clamouring to see a version of the uncompromising and freakishly powerful
07:03Vader they'd seen butcher many a rogue Jedi and innocent civilian in everything from comic
07:07books to video game properties, Gareth Edwards provided fans with the sort of display that
07:12leaves your jaw ricocheting off your knees in an instant.
07:15Slicing and force choking his way through Rebel scum like frustrating gnats at a barbecue,
07:20the entire sequence plays out like something out of a horror flick, as the freedom fighters
07:24desperately sacrifice their lives in order to keep the vital Death Star schematics out
07:28of his reach.
07:29It worked, but my god at a cost.
07:323.
07:33Han and Chewie arrive on the Falcon
07:34From the second it became clear that Disney were very much ready to reignite the Skywalker
07:38saga engines and set a brand new sequel trilogy in motion, a mixture of anxiousness and gleeful
07:44anticipation made its presence felt across the globe.
07:47But with each passing new trailer for J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens, fears were gradually
07:51replaced with near unmatched hype.
07:54Yet one moment in particular was enough to send the entire internet into meltdown, upon
07:58its dropping in the film's second official teaser.
08:01The closing shot of Han Solo and bloody Chewbacca boarding their trusty Millennium Falcon all
08:06but confirmed the incoming feature's record-smashing future box office figures.
08:10And the moment the sequence actually goes down within the film itself only builds on
08:15this wholly moving tease, as Solo is spotted taking in his old cockpit and reminding Rey
08:19his baby made the casserole in 12 parsecs.
08:22It was like they'd never been gone at all.
08:242.
08:25The Yoda puppet returns
08:26The use of CGI to completely reimagine a certain wise old space wizard did not go down too
08:32well with every Star Wars fan around the time of Attack of the Clones.
08:35But that still didn't stop George Lucas from doubling down on his digitally rendered
08:39Yoda for his Revenge of the Sith follow-up, and even entirely lacing his CGI creation
08:44into the Phantom Menace back in 2011.
08:46With Lucas wanting to depict the all-powerful Jedi very much strutting his flipping stuff
08:50with a lightsaber over the course of the prequels, it's not hard to see why he relied on his
08:54new favourite toy for the most part, instead of the once game-changing puppetry work used
08:59to bring Yoda to life previously.
09:01However, sensing that audiences would likely connect more with that Frank Oz-voiced and
09:05controlled entity than the rather soulless digital variant, Rian Johnson made the inspired
09:10call to bring the legendary puppeteer back on board.
09:13Then the time came for Yoda's Force Ghost to appear before Luke in The Last Jedi.
09:17The results clicked, and then some, giving The Last Jedi one of its finest exchanges
09:22in the process.
09:231.
09:24Qui-Gon Jinn's Force Ghost Despite quite happily lending his vocal talents
09:28to the animated version of Master Qui-Gon Jinn over the course of the Clone Wars series,
09:32fans had still been praying to one day see the live-action return of Liam Neeson's
09:36mysterious Jedi Master.
09:38So after spending the majority of his titular series trying and failing to commune with
09:42his fallen master, seeing Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan finally reunite with his Phantom Menace
09:46co-star on the small screen was about as surreal as it was undeniably effective, alluring folks
09:52into wanting to see more of the iconic duo in a second season.
09:56And while it's still not clear as to how Jinn was able to ultimately complete his training
10:00in the Force, to the point of being able to manifest himself physically after death, Neeson's
10:05recent comments of not wanting anyone else to play the part, and only being too happy
10:09to join back up with McGregor on screen, seem to suggest he could be open to sticking
10:13around to show us should that potential second season be given the green lightsaber.
10:18That's the end of our list!
10:19Know of any other times Star Wars gave fans exactly what they wanted?
10:22Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget
10:25to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:28I have been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you very much for clicking on this video
10:32today, may the Force be with you and hopefully I will see you very, very soon.
10:36Bye!