Disney
Disney has been utterly dominating the pop-cultural discussion over the last week or so, for reasons both exciting and unfortunate.
While Disney announced a bevy of new projects at the D23 Expo over the weekend — such as She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel and various other Disney+ series — the loss of a certain friendly neighborhood web-slinger dominated the discussion more than the Mouse House would have liked.
However, because Disney is Disney, they had more than a few trump cards up their sleeve, particularly a debut trailer for the first-ever live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, and a sizzle reel for the upcoming conclusion of the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
While the hype video for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker certainly succeed in building hype, it also did what all great pieces of internet content do these days: it became a meme.
In one of the most head-scratching yet enticing moments of the trailer, longtime Star Wars character C3P0 — who has been used as comedic relief since his debut in Star Wars: A New Hope back in 1977 — can be seen sporting ominous, potentially Sith influenced red eyes. And naturally, Twitter had all the jokes.
No one:
Me after eating an edible and foolishly saying "I don't feel it yet": pic.twitter.com/7pv3YVH9rL
— BroBible (@BroBible) August 26, 2019
Maybe c3po remembered everything from the prequels (Anakin creating him, etc)
— ao lmayy (@LukaANDkrosty) August 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/Rob_Z_31/status/1165996863503384577
"You can call me CBD-PO now bros." pic.twitter.com/R7ShIHEhLX
— BroBible (@BroBible) August 26, 2019
C3PO needs INPUT#TheRiseOfSkywalker 👀 pic.twitter.com/8WjTFyxZ0f
— Jose Antonio Ojeda (@ojedasbodega) August 26, 2019
Star Wars fandom in 2012 vs Star Wars fandom in 2019 pic.twitter.com/vZJsWsPHWG
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) August 26, 2019
you probably didn't recognize me because of the red eyes pic.twitter.com/UoQK734IGu
— heath (@heathdwilliams) August 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/AshleyEsqueda/status/1166028973240803328
If VAR was a person. pic.twitter.com/Aa5QTvtRAB
— Across the Pond (@acrossthepond) August 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/multispaceship/status/1166011091199156224
C-3PO: "I got red eyes now, so the odds of your ass walking out of this alive are 3,720 to 1, motherf**ker." #StarWars #TheRiseOfSkywalker pic.twitter.com/AtoGX8GEzh
— Shaurya Chawla (@_ShauryaChawla) August 26, 2019
But what does the moment actually mean in the context of the film? Naturally, fans are speculating the C3PO is somehow being controlled by a Sith lord, whether it be Palpatine or Snoke.
However, given this is Star Wars and JJ Abrams we’re talking about, the moment is likely an instance of marketing misdirection, as it would be shocking for Disney to reveal what would be a massive twist in a sizzle real four months prior to the film’s release.
***
Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Contact him: eric@brobible.com.