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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... wait a minute!
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00:00From hummed marches sounding somewhat familiar, to certain characters even going out of their way to glare straight down the
00:06lens at you.
00:07Here are those times Star Wars very much acknowledged itself and those watching at home.
00:11I'm Gareth from WhatCultureStarWars and here are 10 times Star Wars Broke the Fourth Wall.
00:17Number 10, Rey Takes the Lightsabers Back to Tatooine, The Rise of Skywalker
00:21While Tatooine would undoubtedly go on to become one of the most pivotal and iconic spots in the Star Wars
00:27universe over the course of the Skywalker saga,
00:30that still didn't stop a few folks from scratching their heads by the time it played host to the final
00:34scene of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
00:37Sure, the sight of Rey deciding to bury both Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa's lightsabers near the former's homeland was
00:43a sweet enough touch,
00:44but fans were still left wondering why in the hell Palpatine's granddaughter decided to choose this spot as the burial
00:49ground in the first place.
00:51Luke had spent much of his time on the planet wishing he was elsewhere,
00:54and Leia only ever visited Tatooine on the big screen when rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt.
00:59So whatever way you put it, this beat felt like more of a knowing and emotional salute to those in
01:03cinemas who had been strapped in for much of the ride up to this point than anything else.
01:08Number 9, Jar Jar Binks' Fate, Aftermath, Empire's End
01:11This calamitous Gungan known as Jar Jar Binks would go on to become the butt of many a Star Wars
01:17joke following on from his 1999 debut.
01:19On top of having his significance and role in general largely reduced in the wake of The Phantom Menace,
01:24The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams would even reference at one point possibly having Binks' skeleton appear in the
01:30desert on Jakku.
01:31That ultimately wouldn't come to pass, of course, but one rather poignant piece of fourth wall breaking pertaining to the
01:37character did actually pop up in Chuck Wendig's novel Aftermath, Empire's End.
01:42In this canon book, which takes place in the wake of Return of the Jedi,
01:45Binks is described as being a street performer who, after being ostracized and shunned by Gungans and the Naboo,
01:50became beloved by refugee children as he goofed around for their enjoyment.
01:54Wendig would later add that this was very much a subtle commentary on Star Wars fans' feelings and reactions to
01:59the character over the years.
02:01Number 8. Hey look, it's Boba Fett! A New Hope
02:04Long before he was being a touch overexposed on the small screen,
02:08Star Wars fans were simply champing at the bit to get their next hit of Bounty Hunter goodness.
02:13But instead of thinking of a compelling spin-off story to throw this unquestionably cool Beskar armor-wearing badass into
02:19the thick of,
02:20George Lucas had another ingenious idea on how to capitalize on Fett's unexpected popularity back in the late 90s.
02:26During the re-jig scene involving a now-CGI Jabba the Hutt conversing with Han Solo,
02:30Lucas' 1997 special edition of A New Hope brought with it the pointless return of the Bounty Hunter first seen
02:36in The Empire Strikes Back.
02:38Really hammering home just how shoehorned Boba was when it came to his superimposed, unexpected and entirely silent cameo,
02:45the Jango Fett clone would then sign off his appearance with a not-so-subtle glare down the camera as
02:49if to say,
02:50you want it Boba, I give you Boba.
02:53Number 7. Stormtrooper's bad aim is put under the microscope, the Mandalorian.
02:58One of the longest-running and underlying jokes in the entire Star Wars universe
03:02comes in the form of the Empire's choice of faceless trooper being quite possibly the worst shot in the galaxy
03:08when equipped with a blaster.
03:09After initially being built up as formidable foes, known for their ruthlessness and precision by Obi-Wan Kenobi and A
03:15New Hope,
03:16the evidently poor accuracy of the cheaply decked-out Stormtroopers could only be ignored for so long.
03:21Sure enough, when the time came to boot up Disney Plus' first season of The Mandalorian,
03:25Jon Favreau gave a knowing Stormtrooper nod to fans of the franchise in the show's sixth episode, The Prisoner.
03:31During an exchange between Bill Burr's Mayfield and Pedro Pascal's Mando,
03:35the former notes how he was formerly an Imperial sharpshooter.
03:38Without missing a beat, Din Djarin quips, that's not saying much,
03:41pretty much making the aforementioned much-ridiculed accuracy of the troops canon in one cheeky line.
03:47Number 6. Wooden beams being exposed pisses off some fans, the Book of Boba Fett.
03:52Now, this one is more of an unfortunate mistake than a purely intentional piece of fourth-wall smashing.
03:57It did still take a number of folks out of Disney Plus' recent Mandalorian spin-off,
04:01so it definitely earns a spot on this list.
04:03Adding to the gaffe that went down during the second season of the aforementioned Mandalorian
04:07that saw a jeans guy rock up in the background of a shot,
04:11Episode 3 of The Book of Boba Fett also couldn't escape the realities of shooting
04:14when it came time to introduce the finished product to audiences.
04:18Coming during a sequence which saw one of the biker gang members scooting around Mos Espa,
04:22one rather passionate Star Wars fanatic on TikTok was quick to notice
04:26that a few wooden beams used to help build the make-believe set
04:29were very much exposed as the camera panned from up high.
04:32While the infamous Mandalorian jeans guy has since been erased from history altogether,
04:36it'll be interesting to see how or even if Lucasfilm slash Disney decide to paper over
04:41this particular production blunder going forward.
04:44Number 5. A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away
04:47Silently feeding a line that would become almost instantly iconic,
04:51those legendary words of a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,
04:56soon give way to one of the most rousing scores ever forged,
04:59and an opening crawl which subsequently sets the stage for the epic events to come.
05:03Yet while all these slowly drifting words and grand orchestra undoubtedly set the toll
05:07for the operatic adventures that lie ahead,
05:10their very existence completely pulverizes any notion of there being a fourth wall from minute one.
05:15Far from jarringly taking audiences out of the action, however,
05:18these now legendary floating paragraphs of bright yellow exposition
05:21have become a beloved part of the Star Wars cinematic experience,
05:25and leave a rather disappointing gaping hole when left out in their traditional form entirely,
05:29as seen, or not in this case, in Rogue One and Solo's opening titles.
05:34Number 4. The Opening Crawl Of Return Of The Jedi Is Reference
05:37The Mandalorian
05:38And speaking of those famous stage-setting sentences that kickstart many a Star Wars adventure,
05:44Disney Plus' small-screen smash that is The Mandalorian
05:46came equipped with a rather cheeky nod to that long-running device in its second season.
05:51However, the words seen hovering around an exploding second Death Star during Season 2 Episode 1's flashback sequence
05:57also oddly act as yet another Mandalorian fourth-wall breaker.
06:00When translated from Oribesh to English,
06:03the text being projected around the erupting weapon in a Mos Pelgo bar reads,
06:07Little does Luke know that the Galactic Empire has secretly begun construction on a new armoured space station,
06:13even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star.
06:15On top of being a little odd due to the fact that the second Death Star in question had actually
06:20just been blown up,
06:21the very existence of this nod to one of the lines in Return of the Jedi's opening crawl
06:25works as a cheeky wink to those watching.
06:28Number 3. Let the Past Die The Last Jedi
06:31Of all the moments that split Star Wars fanatics right down the middle
06:35coming out of Rian Johnson's eighth episode of the Skywalker Saga,
06:39Kylo Ren telling Rey to let the past die felt like arguably the most pointed and eye-catching of the
06:44lot.
06:48For many, this line summed up Johnson's approach to his feature as a whole,
06:52preferring to take the franchise in a bold new direction
06:55and leave the type of tired and already told tale many had come to expect
06:58from this Skywalker-centric epic in the past.
07:01And the delivery of Ren's speech later in the film,
07:03revealing to Rey that not only should the Sith, Jedi, and Rebels all die,
07:07but that the conflicted Jedi herself was a nobody,
07:09also left many feeling as though Johnson had made a point out of poking a hole in the fourth wall
07:14and laughing off all of the many theories fans had heading into the flick
07:18when it came to Rey's part in the story, too.
07:20Despite some feeling bizarrely attacked by this meta-theme of letting the past die
07:24throughout the divisive flick, though,
07:25it's clear Johnson was simply looking to build on what fans knew
07:28and loved about those prior features and move the series on,
07:32as evidenced in Rey's arc in The Last Jedi.
07:352. Asshara Zavros Hums the Imperial March, The Old Republic
07:39Jumping into the video game corner of this galaxy far, far away for this next entry,
07:44and to a largely overlooked beat that actually alluded to the existence
07:47of John Williams' unmistakable score within the world Occupy by Jedi and Sith.
07:52Coming during a sequence seen in The Old Republic video game,
07:55players witness Asshara Zavros hum a rather familiar tune
07:57as she gathers herself post, well, you know.
08:05But in showcasing Zavros' singing of the Imperial March,
08:08the question of how in the holy hell Zavros stumbled upon this tune in the first place
08:12quickly invaded many a Star Wars fan's minds.
08:14In all honesty, this was likely nothing more than a cute tip of the cap
08:17to one of the most recognizable pieces of music the galaxy has to offer.
08:221. George Lucas takes Darth to one side
08:25LEGO Star Wars The Panawon Menace
08:27LEGO's many various spins on everything from Marvel to Star Wars
08:30can always be counted on to take a few hilarious shots at that sacred fourth wall
08:34over the course of whatever video game or feature offering they have lined up next.
08:39And keeping with that penchant for taking a lightsaber to the imaginary divide
08:42between audience and action,
08:44a moment that sees Darth Sidious converse and chuckle with Asajj Ventress
08:47via hologram in LEGO Star Wars The Padawan Menace
08:50is soon interrupted by an unexpected cameo from a giggling Darth Vader.
08:54A familiar voice shouting CUT!
08:57Followed by a record scratch for good measure
08:59then paves the way for none other than LEGO George Lucas
09:02to storm onto set to drag his disruptive and confused Sith out of the exchange.
09:07Good.
09:08Go Darth, you want a donut?
09:09Yum!
09:09Somebody get Darth a donut!
09:11Along with hilariously shining a light on this entire sequence
09:14being nothing more than a scene being shot for our entertainment,
09:17Lucas' acknowledging of the invading Sith as simply Darth
09:20was also a not-so-subtle nod towards the galaxy's creator
09:23now bizarrely referring to him as such in A New Hope
09:26when Ben Kenobi comes into contact with his old friend.
09:29He may be a master of evil,
09:30but even Darth's need a donut and a cuddle every now and again, you know.
09:34And that's our list.
09:35Know of any other times Star Wars broke the fourth wall?
09:38Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below
09:40and do not forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
09:44I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars.
09:46May the Force be with you.
09:47Thank you very much for watching this video today
09:49and I'm sure I'll see you very, very soon.
09:51Bye-bye!
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