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Not very long ago, in a bunch of famous, non-Star Wars movies...
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00:00So, everybody knows Star Wars, right? We know the text crawl, we know the light side,
00:05we know the dark side, and we definitely for damn sure know about the lightsabers.
00:09But apparently this love for George Lucas' and Disney's work isn't just contained within their
00:14own franchise, as numerous films have provided nods, references, easter eggs, and just full-on
00:19cameos from the Star Wars universe. And that's what we're here to talk about today, as I'm Jules,
00:23this is WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 best times Star Wars appeared in other movies.
00:2810. X-Men
00:30The original X-Men movie hit cinemas in 2000, one year after Star Wars' long-awaited return in the
00:36form of The Phantom Menace. As such, the timing couldn't have been better for X-Men to sneak
00:40in a Star Wars reference somewhere. And during the final battle between Halle Berry's Storm and
00:44Ray Park's Toad, that's exactly what happened. Park had just played Sith apprentice Darth Maul in
00:50The Phantom Menace, a character whose insane lightsaber skills allowed him to battle Qui-Gon
00:54Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who are obviously two trained Jedi, at the same time and come out on
01:00top. Well, almost. Jumping back to X-Men, though, Park paid homage to those lightsaber skills in that
01:05aforementioned fight against Storm by twirling his weapon around in a very Maul-esque way,
01:10shortly after kicking the weather-manipulating heroine down an elevator shaft. Park is known
01:14for the great physicality he brings to his characters, and this moment worked out not only as
01:18a cool tip of the hat to Maul, but as a way to make Toad feel even more skilled in the combat
01:23department. 9. Superbad
01:26Raunchy teen comedy Superbad isn't exactly somewhere you'd expect Star Wars to appear,
01:31but the movie does have a couple of hilarious nods to the sci-fi franchise throughout its runtime.
01:36These mostly come from Seth Rogen and Bill Hader's buddy cop duo, who frequently mention Star Wars after
01:41picking up McLovin from the convenience store. During their subsequent car journey, these cops,
01:45Slater and Michaels, start talking about Attack of the Clones, with Slater saying that the Force
01:49is strong with his rookie partner, before breaking out into a surprisingly convincing Yoda impression
01:54and calling Michaels his Padawan. Later, Slater and Michaels start using their torches like
01:59lightsabers, battling one another while adding their own sound effects. Slater then pulls out a
02:03Palpatine impression from his repertoire before proceeding to run down Jonah Hill's character
02:07with his car, which if you think about it is a pretty fittingly evil act for a dastardly Sith Lord.
02:12Star Wars humor may be a cheap way to draw a laugh, but Superbad executes these jokes so well
02:17that we can't really complain.
02:198. Indiana Jones
02:20With both franchises having George Lucas as a creative spearhead, it would be a genuine shock
02:25if the Indiana Jones movies didn't pay homage to Star Wars in some small way, but fortunately,
02:30they do. The most famous of these homages is found in Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a pair of R2-D2
02:36and C-3PO hieroglyphs appearing next to Indy when he uncovers the Ark of the Covenant.
02:41There's another, lesser-known nod at the start of the movie as well, with the text
02:45OBCPO emblazoned on the side of Jock's airplane at the end of the opening sequence, a shout-out
02:50to Obi-Wan Kenobi and C-3PO.
02:53Temple of Doom continued to dish out the Star Wars goodness with the club that Willie sings
02:57in at the beginning called Club Obi-Wan, while the sound effect used for the crashing plane's
03:01engine failure is the same sound heard in The Empire Strikes Back when the Millennium Falcon's
03:05hyperdrive fails.
03:06And finally, while The Last Crusade is surprisingly light on Star Wars nods, Kingdom of the Crystal
03:11Skull has Indy utter the iconic line,
03:13I've got a bad feeling about this, which has been spoken in almost every single Star Wars
03:17flick to date.
03:187. Toy Story
03:19Going all the way back to the first Toy Story movie, it's been something of a trend for
03:23Pixar to include Star Wars nods in its movies. Some of the best of these include the Dash
03:28Forest chase in The Incredibles harking back to Return of the Jedi's speeder bike chase,
03:32or the fighter pilot dogs in Up referring to themselves as Grey Leader, Grey 2, and Grey
03:363 parodying the Red Squadron call sign in A New Hope. But it's the Star Wars references
03:41in the Toy Story series that people will remember most fondly. From dickbag neighbor Sid interrogating
03:46Woody with the Where's the Rebel base? to an Obi-Wan action figure in Toy Story 4, to the
03:51fact that Emperor Zurg is a clear riff of Darth Vader, there's a small piece of Star Wars in
03:56all four movies, some obvious and some less so.
03:59Zurg telling Buzz, I am your father, and Buzz yelling, no, is one of the funniest easter
04:04eggs in movie history, inadvertently foreshadowing Vader's own pained scream in Revenge of the
04:08Sith six years later. Pixar and Star Wars actually have a shared history, with George Lucas himself
04:14proving an instrumental player in the studio's formative years. This in mind, it's almost
04:18like the Star Wars nods are a neat way for Pixar to honour its own past.
04:236. Star Trek 2009
04:25Star Wars and Star Trek have been closely intertwined for decades, with George Lucas once stating
04:30that Star Wars wouldn't exist if Star Trek hadn't softened up the entertainment arena,
04:35and original Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz revealing that Trek was a big influence on Lucas when
04:40creating his own space-set franchise. However, by the time lifelong Star Wars fans, J.J. Abram
04:45and Damon Lindelof, were handed the keys to the Trek franchise for the 2009 movie reboot,
04:50the order of influence had changed, with Trek now drawing from the Star Wars movies that those
04:55two creatives had grown up revering. Not only were two scenes in Star Trek 2009,
05:00aka young Kirk staring at the under-construction Enterprise and old Spock saving Kirk from a monster
05:04intended to echo two scenes from the original Star Wars films, where Luke stares at the binary
05:09sunset and Obi-Wan stops the Tusken Raiders from attacking Luke, but also a small piece of Star Wars
05:14also appears in the movie physically, or at least digitally, but you catch our drift. This appearance
05:18comes in the form of none other than R2-D2, who can be seen floating through the wreckage of several
05:23Starfleet ships after the Enterprise emerges from the warp. R2 also pops up in the sequel's Star Trek
05:28Into Darkness in a similar manner, because apparently appearing in the vast majority of Star Wars
05:33movies just wasn't enough for this attention-seeking droid.
05:355. Captain America Civil War
05:38With Marvel Studios' Kingpin Big Kev being such a huge fan of Star Wars, it's also surprised that the
05:43Marvel Cinematic Universe is littered with nods to the empire that Luke has built. Many movies in the
05:48franchise include a scene where a character loses a limb, such as Thor's arm being lopped off in
05:52Thor The Dark World, all of which were intended as a wink to Vader chopping off Luke Skywalker's arm
05:56in The Empire Strikes Back. Ongoing gags aside, though, arguably the best singular Star Wars
06:01reference in the MCU is delivered by Spider-Man in Captain America Civil War, who uses his knowledge
06:06of the sci-fi franchise to help Team Tony take down Giant Man. Asking his fellow Avengers if they've
06:12ever seen that really old movie, The Empire Strikes Back, Spidey proceeds to reference the scene
06:16where the Rebels use a cable to topple an at-at on Hoth, before using the same technique on Giant
06:21Man. Civil War was chock-full of crowd-pleasing moments, but the pop in the theatre when Spidey
06:26mentioned Star Wars was one of the biggest of the lot.
06:294. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
06:31Ferris Bueller's Day Off is one of the most rewatchable movies ever, and can effortlessly
06:35put a smile on your face whenever you sit down for another viewing. It's also a treat for Star Wars fans,
06:40with one of the most memorable moments of the movie featuring a hysterical nod to the franchise's
06:44famous music. The moment in question sees two parking attendants going for a joyride in Cameron's
06:49dad's Ferrari. Soaring through the air in slow motion, their epic leap is scored with John Williams'
06:54main Star Wars theme tune, which then carries on playing as they hit the ground and drive off into
06:59the distance. It's among the most iconic moments in any John Hughes movie, which is saying something
07:04considering the guy's incredible filmography, primarily because John Williams' music makes
07:08everything it touches a thousand times better.
07:113. The Lego Movie
07:12The Lego Movie was an absolute dream for pop culture enthusiasts, with famous faces like Batman,
07:18Gandalf, Wonder Woman, Superman, Dumbledore, and even Shaquille O'Neal appearing throughout its
07:22runtime. The Star Wars gang also gets some cameo action, with the Millennium Falcon interrupting Batman
07:28when he talks about obtaining a hyperdrive, musing aloud,
07:30What do you think? A spaceship is just going to appear out of the blue? Well, Batsy, yes,
07:34that's exactly what happens. The Falcon parks up as the Star Wars theme plays, before Han Solo,
07:39Lando, Chewbacca, and C-3PO emerge from various compartments of the ship, talking about a sweet
07:44party on Naboo that they were supposed to be attending. Though Harrison Ford didn't return
07:48to voice Han, Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels did return for Lando and C-3PO respectively,
07:53adding a layer of extra awesomeness to the scene. Also awesome is watching Lando talking to Batman,
07:58which is almost too much cool for a single screen to handle. Things don't end well for the Star Wars
08:03crew, though, when Batman steals the hyperdrive and they're eaten by a space slug. But they
08:07certainly gave audiences a memorable time in their brief trip across the Lego multiverse.
08:112. E.T. The Extraterrestrial
08:14Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have been the best of buds for decades, even going back to before
08:18they collaborated on Indiana Jones. In the 70s, the pair even traded back-end points on Close
08:23Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, with Lucas believing that Spielberg's sci-fi classic would be
08:29by far the biggest hit. Needless to say, Spielberg emerged from that gamble with heavier pockets.
08:34With Star Wars proving to be such a smash hit in 1977, Spielberg decided to pay homage to the
08:39franchise in his 1982 flick E.T. The Extraterrestrial, with a few different references
08:44dotted throughout. At one point, we see a child walking down the street in a Yoda costume,
08:48which is accompanied by the same Yoda musical cue heard in The Empire Strikes Back. Elsewhere,
08:53the lead character Elliot's bedroom is stuffed with Star Wars action figures, including Boba Fett,
08:57Greedo, and Lando. And right before Elliot introduces him to E.T., his older brother
09:01Michael mocks him by doing a Yoda impression. Brilliantly, Lucas would later return the gesture
09:06with a few members of E.T.'s species appearing on Coruscant in The Phantom Menace. It's a small
09:11universe after all, isn't it?
09:131. Free Guy
09:14Free Guy was one of those movies that felt like it had easter eggs hidden in every frame,
09:19so it really wasn't a surprise that Star Wars made the cut. During the climactic battle between
09:23Ryan Reynolds' hero Guy and his ridiculously buff adversary Dude, Guy is completely outmatched
09:28physically, forcing him to call in a bit of help from some iconic pop culture weapons.
09:33Captain America's shield is first up, followed by a Hulk fist and then, you guessed it,
09:37a lightsaber, which Guy uses with a level of skill that would give Vader a run for his money.
09:42Made possible by Disney's acquisition of Star Wars and Free Guy's distributor 20th Century Fox,
09:47these references were implemented after Reynolds, along with director Sean Levy,
09:50wrote to Disney and asked for permission. Obviously, the studio said yes, and we are
09:54glad they did. Guy using a lightsaber while John Williams' Star Wars score plays made for one of
09:59the best movie theatre moments of 2021. He's hoping for something just as good in Free Guy's
10:04upcoming sequel. Although, to be fair, that's going to be tough to beat.
10:07And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 of the best times that Star Wars appeared in other
10:11movies. I hope that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the
10:14comments section below. As always, I've been Jules, so you can go follow me over on Twitter
10:18at RetroJayWithAZero, or you can swing by Live and Let's Dice, where I do all of my streaming
10:22outside of work, and it'd be great to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to say
10:26one thing. Hope you're treating yourself with love and respect, my friends, because you deserve all
10:30of the best things in life, alright? And don't go beating yourself up at mistakes that you made in
10:33the past. We all make them. We are all human. And if you have the capacity to forgive those that
10:37have done you wrong in the past, then I urge you to do so, because holding onto hatred and
10:40resentment, it's not good for anyone in the long run. Big love to you, my friend. Now go out there and
10:44smash at your massive ledge. As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome. Never forget that,
10:49and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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