The Phantom Menace’s Secret George Lucas Easter Egg Revealed 26 Years Later

It has been quite a long time since the Star Wars prequels sparked a frenzy at the movie theater, giving some fans a villain to hate for years and others a fresh start for their favorite franchise. The Phantom Menace is likely the harder pill to swallow for many fans, though time has been kinder to it in the wake of Disney’s recent Star Wars output in theaters. That’s probably one fan took an extra step back into the cooling waters of Naboo to dig up an Easter egg featuring George Lucas after close to 30 years.

Former ILM matte painter Caroleen “Jett” Green recently spoke to Clayton Sandell with SFFGazette, revealing she placed a small, hidden cameo for George Lucas in his first entry in the prequel trilogy.

“I decided to get a picture of George, and I put it on this plaque,” Green said in the chat. “I thought, ‘Well, that’ll be cool. By the time you shrink that down, his face is just a blur.’”

She indicated that Lucas still had to approve the small cameo, but seemed pleased with his response.

“George is really quiet. He looks at it, and he goes, ‘Oh, naughty, naughty,’” she continued. “I said, ‘Yeah, but it’s you! It’s your face.’ And then there’s silence again. And I’m just sitting there with everybody. And for some reason, I can’t describe the feeling, but–I knew that I wasn’t going to get in trouble. And then George says, ‘Okay. Leave it in.’”

It technically would be his earliest cameo in the Star Wars films, though Lucas did make a physical cameo in Revenge of the Sith in 2005. Featuring blue skin, Lucas appeared as Baron Notluwiski Papanoida standing with his family outside of the opera. Is it noteworthy that Lucas makes his cameo shortly before the true evil of the galaxy reveals itself? We may never know.

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Lucas also has a small audio cameo in the newer Disney-released films, like Rogue One and The Rise of Skywalker. It takes a scream he recorded during production on American Grafitti in 1973 to replace the iconic Wilhelm scream. It’s unlikely he will be returning for any future films or cameos in the future, so fans might need to venture back to get their fix.

The Phantom Menace Easter egg is hard to see, even in 4k, according to the outlet, but you can see it. It isn’t just some random goof or prank Photoshop. It’s a legit photo of the director that was popular around the time of the film’s release, even getting plenty of play during a Washington, D.C. museum exhibit to honor the franchise’s 20th anniversary. It also got the Drew Struzan treatment for a masterful tribute painting.

Can you spot the Easter egg yourself? Is The Phantom Menace in need of redemption? Sound off in the comments!