Before Samuel L. Jackson became synonymous with the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to his decades-long role as Nick Fury, it was “Star Wars” that was the first Hollywood mega-franchise to open its doors for the beloved actor. Jackson played Jedi master Mace Windu in George Lucas’ “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, and it’s a role he appears quite eager to play again despite Mace being killed off in 2015’s “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” after Anakin severs his hand with a lightsaber, and Emperor Palpatine electrocutes him and sends him flying out of a building window.
Not so fast. During an interview with Empire Magazine, Jackson had this to say about Mace’s fate: “HE’S NOT DEAD!!!” When the subject of Mace being brought back for his own Disney+ series came up, Jackson was asked what he would want to see in such a project.
“EVERYTHING YES!!” the actor enthusiastically replied.
“Star Wars” has a history of bringing back long-presumed dead characters. “The Phantom Menace” villain Darth Maul presumably died in the first prequel movie, for instance, only for his fate to be reversed in the 2018 movie “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” So yes, Mace being alive is well possible.
Jackson spoke with Empire to mark the 25th anniversary of Lucas launching the “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, which polarized audiences and film critics during its run.
“It’s been a remarkable experience. And just a very heartwarming one,” Hayden Christensen told Empire while reflecting on some of the backlash the trilogy faced during its day. “The journey that I’ve been on with ‘Star Wars’ over the last 20 plus years… it’s been a wild ride, and where we’re at now is really meaningful to me.”
“I think that those movies have held up well over time,” he added. “It feels like vindication for the work that we did. Everyone that worked on those movies thought that we were part of something special. We all wanted to do our very best work, and we cared a lot about it. And so to see the response from the fans now, it’s very cool.”
“Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” will be returning to movie theaters this may to celebrate its 25th anniversary.