New 'Star Wars' Fan Film Combines Stormtroopers With 'Hamlet'

A new Star Wars fan film combines George Lucas' space saga with William Shakespeare's drama in an unexpected way.

"Squad Leader TD-73028 Soliloquy," created by Maxime-Claude L'Ecuyer, borrow's Hamlet's famous soliloquy and gives it to a Stormtrooper wandering the desert alone. That Shakespeare's words are still so powerful even transposed into an entirely different context the writer could not have dreamed of seems a testament to their longevity.

Here's the synopsis for the fan film:

"To be or not to be: Star Wars meets Shakespeare. Hamlet's famous soliloquy is presented as the inner voice of a Stormtrooper, demonstrating the way Shakespeare's language still echoes down to us through the centuries and remains as relevant today as ever---not to mention as well in a galaxy far, far away…"

You can watch the film above.

This isn't the first time that Hamlet has been combined with Star Wars, though the previous instance came in a much more roundabout way. In 2001, Dark Horse Comics published Tag & Bink Are Dead by writer Kevin Rubio and artist Lucas Marangon. The film was inspired by Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, a comedic play that focused on two minor characters from Hamlet, following them as the events of Shakespeare's tragedy played out.

Tag & Bink Are Dead followed two background characters through the events of the original Star Wars Trilogy. The comic became such a cult favorite that fans theorized that an elderly Tag and Bink are the two Stormtroopers who turned around and walked away when they overheard Kylo Ren throwing one of his tantrums during Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a theory that Rubio has publicly supported. The duo also had a confirmed cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

This isn't the first fan film to garner attention recently. Another fan film titled "Vader Episode 1 - Shards of the Past" went viral after offering a dark vision of Vader's internal struggle and rage against his master, Emperor Palpatine. It is a very different film from this one, but still part of that vibrant Star Wars fan community.

What did you think of "Squad Leader TD-73028 Soliloquy"? Let us know in the comments!

The official Star Wars saga continues in Star Wars: Episode IX, opening on December 20th. Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is said to be working on a new trilogy of Star Wars movies apart from the Skywalker Saga, and Game of Thrones creators DB Weiss and David Benioff are also said to be working on their trilogy of Star Wars movies.

[H/T] io9