By Josh Reilly
Samuel L. Jackson is no stranger to franchise films, having appeared in the Star Wars prequel trilogy before becoming a mainstay in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Nick Fury. Jackson is still involved with the MCU as he is set to star in Secret Invasion, which is now in production. According to Variety, a Nick Fury solo series is also in the works, which could mark the first time Jackson has the central role in a Marvel project.
While it seems Jackson’s future is at Marvel, some fans have wondered if he could ever return to Star Wars and his character Mace Windu, who seemingly met his end at the hands of the villainous duo Emperor Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith. This death seemed definitive, but Star Wars has a recent history of reviving characters, including Palpatine himself, along with Boba Fett, Darth Maul, and others.
While on the Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast, host Josh Horowitz asked Jackson if there was any chance Mace Windu survived the events of Revenge of the Sith and, more broadly, if he could return to Star Wars:
“Definitely. There’s a huge history of people with one hand returning in Star Wars…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, 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 there… Put me in coach, I’m ready!’ You know, I’ll learn to lightsaber left-handed. Come on, hook me up.”
Jackson has been publicly advocating for a return to the franchise for years, so it’s no surprise that he would approach an integral member of Star Wars’ creative team in the form of Bryce Dallas Howard to see if Windu could be brought back in some form.
Interestingly, fan theories were rampant during the airing of The Mandalorian Season 2 that the Jedi Grogu contacted on Tython was Mace Windu, but this was disproved when Luke Skywalker made his grand return in the finale. Some rumors have still persisted since then, but it’s unclear if there are any plans to bring Jackson back into the fold. Based on his comments, he’s clearly on board to return.
Source: Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast
Images courtesy of Disney and Lucasfilm