Star Wars: Ahmed Best Says He Would Ask the Fans for Help If He Directed for Lucasfilm

Fan service has been a hotly debated topic over the last few years, thanks to the rising absurdity [...]

By Charlie Ridgely

Fan service has been a hotly debated topic over the last few years, thanks to the rising absurdity of social media and, in part, to the release of some vastly different Star Wars films. If you do something totally new that aims to launch a franchise like Star Wars in a different direction, you'll get harassed by trolls online. If you go the route of J.J. Abrams and deliver nothing but fan service, most critics will dislike your film and plenty of fans will be frustrated with a lack of creativity. The vocal fandom has put Star Wars in a bind, causing filmmakers to wonder how to please the fans while also introducing new ideas.

Ahmed Best, who is known for playing Jar-Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequels, recently spoke out about potentially directing a Star Wars project in the future. He didn't confirm or deny that he would be helming something down the line, but he did address the topic of the fans, saying that he would absolutely use them as a resource if he was given a directing opportunity.

"I don't hate fans or fandom," Best wrote in the tweet. "I've been a fan since the '70s. If I were to direct a Star Wars movie, which...well... (That's all I can say about that) I would ask for help from the fans. It's a secret weapon that not a lot of movies have."

Star Wars does have an already built-in fan base, regardless of what a new project might be, but that base hasn't always been the kindest around. Toxicity has surrounded the release of the last two movies in the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The hatred and online bullying from some "fans" goes back even further than that, though, with Best himself on the receiving end thanks to the disdain for Jar-Jar.

But being the upstanding performer and person he is, Best is following in the footsteps of folks like Rian Johnson and recognizing that the majority of the franchise's fans, the actual fans, are just folks who love to see Star Wars succeed. Real fans root for something they like to succeed, not for something they dislike to fail, so listening to those folks isn't the worst idea.

Whether or not Best gets the opportunity to direct a Star Wars project remains to be seen, but he will be appearing in a new Star Wars TV series this year. Best is set to host the unscripted competition series Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, which will stream exclusively on Disney+.

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