In a recent episode of The Mandalorian titled "Chapter 12: The Siege," there was so much action going on that you would be forgiven for not noticing a goof that appeared in the background. In the days that followed the episode's airing, viewers pointed out that there is a crew member visible at the 18:54 mark. Or at least, the crew member was visible. More recently, the "character" dubbed by the internet as "Jeans Guy" has been erased from the episode.
How did this happen? Could it have been time travel, like when Marty McFly noticed his siblings vanishing as he meddled with the past? Could the time travel that we have seen in Star Wars Rebels and the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special be hinting at something bigger going on here? Did a time traveler in our own world go back and fix the mistake, leaving us with a shared Mandela Effect type of memory? Was Jeans Guy snapped away by Thanos? Did this one second of the episode go against George Lucas' vision of the Star Wars universe?
All joking aside, it is simply a case of Disney and Lucasfilm removing the mistake. Admittedly, I would have loved for Jeans Guy to have remained, as it would have provided inspiration for possible future short stories in the franchise that could have been told from such a character's point of view. But alas, it seems that it was meant to be. However, the removal of Jeans Guy from the episode raises a question: What does this mean for the future of the Star Wars franchise?
The idea of revising something onscreen is not something new to the franchise. Even before the 1997 Special Editions, the original trilogy had slight tweaks here and there. It is just that the tweaks from the Special Edition onward were more noticeable. These were what George Lucas himself considered to be "more correct" in terms of how he preferred to envision the films. When Lucasfilm was sold to Disney in 2012, people thought that this would be the end of live-action Star Wars media being revised. But of course, a year ago, people noticed that Greedo now says "Maclunkey!" when confronting Han Solo. This turned out to be a leftover change from George that Disney simply had not released yet.
However, despite George Lucas having visited the set of The Mandalorian, we think of the show as something that he is not in charge of, which makes this revision feel significant. One could very well ask whether the revision in this episode means that future live-action Star Wars stories are not safe when it comes to things being edited out or edited in. If there is something that those in charge dislike, or perhaps even the fans dislike, what is to stop Disney and Lucasfilm from changing things within these stories? Does this one little event open up a can of worms, leading to further changes that may or may not jive with the fans?
In all honesty, I personally do not believe that this one little incident sets a precedent for anything major, such as remaking or re-editing an entire trilogy. Something that big would be a waste of time. Why do something like that when Lucasfilm can move on and explore new stories in new eras? The Jeans Guy incident is just a goof that the powers that be decided they did not want to remain within the frame. Maybe future goofs will be edited out here and there, but nothing substantial. It is not such a big deal, in my opinion. However, the meme and legend that was Jeans Guy will live on for years to come.
Source(s): The Direct
Comments
Post a Comment