It’s not a secret for anyone how John Wayne affect the original star wars. Just look at the whole Wild West vibe on Tatooine and the other Outer Rim planets, or the way it is Harrison Ford left an aura of cowboy coolness in Han Solo, and his dynamism with his best friend Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). Westerners have always played an important role in creation George Lucas‘ the galaxy is far, far away, and it remains so even today, with series like Mandalorians And The Book of Boba Fett still trying to emulate the same spirit as Wayne’s classic films.
But what’s even cooler about Wayne’s relationship with star wars is that it goes far beyond mere inspiration and influence, and he and his legacy play an important role in the franchise to this day. Lots of scenes on A new hope modeled after classic Wayne moments Seekerslike Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) arrives at the Lars Homestead to find it on fire, and, later, enters Clone AttackAnakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) killed an entire tribe of Tusken Raiders like the Comanche camp battle in the Wayne classic. And while many might think John Wayne himself never entered star warsthat’s not entirely true—from a certain point of view, of course.
Duke Has a Secret Cameo in The Original ‘Star Wars’
How can you think about a desert planet and not fill it with Western-inspired knowledge? Well, star wars beyond that, really, because Duke has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo A new hopesomething the legendary sound engineer expressed Ben Burtt himself a few years ago, at Star Wars Celebration IV in 2007.
Burtt needs no introduction star wars fans, but we’ll cut someone else’s slack: he’s the genius behind every iconic voice in the franchise under Lucas’ command. From Chewbacca’s roar to R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) beeps, from blaster shots to lightsaber hums and, of course, Darth Vader’s (James Earl Jones) breathe — that’s all he is. And the role of John Wayne was only possible because of him too. Wayne voices Garindan, a Kubaz spy at Docking Bay 94 Tatooine. Okay, but who is Garindan, and what is Kubaz? The character himself is an insectoid alien that looks like a hooded mosquito. He works for the Empire and informs them of Luke Skywalker’s whereabouts, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2. If you are still having difficulties, think Mandaloriansand its first episode: an alien calling a taxi for Mando (Pedro Pascals) and Mythrol (Horatio Sanz) by playing the flute. That’s Kubaz, and Garindan looks like one.
The realization came while Burtt was working on it Clone Attacklooking for inspiration for the sound of Poggle the Lesser (Matthew Wood), which is an insectoid. The only other insectoid character before him was Garindan, and Burtt remembers how he did it by reading his notes at the time: “I found that it was an electronic hum coming out of my synthesizer triggered by a human voice. And I listened to it and realized it was John Wayne — I’d found some circle lines in the dumpster of the studio being trashed. So the buzz was triggered by some dialogue like ‘Okay, what are you doing in this town’ or something like that.”
Since Burtt disclosed this information only in 2007, it’s likely that Wayne never knew about his role A new hope. He died in 1979, two years after the film came out. Officially, his last role was signed Shooterwhich came out a year before the original star wars. He isn’t credited for the voice of Garindan in the film, but it’s also not his final contribution to the franchise…
Wayne’s Legacy Continues in ‘The Mandalorian’
Meanwhile John Wayne’s avatar enters star wars maybe indeed Han Solo, recently appeared another character with the same principle. Anyone who’s ever watched Mandalorians can see how the main character is based on several Western heroes, and John Wayne is one of them. But it’s actually much more than that, as there are actual family members beneath the armor. Meanwhile Mando is voiced and generally credited Pedro Pascalshe Brendan Waynegrandson John, who we see the most.
Mando is a rather complex character, so three people are needed to play him well. Pascal was in great demand in Hollywood, so he shared the role with Brendan Wayne and Lateef crowd. Each presents a different aspect of the singular character we know as Din Djarin, and the three appearances complement one another. Pascal was his voice and face, while Brendan Wayne was the one handling the guns and guns and Crowder took over the fight scenes.
In a recent interview with Vulture, Brendan revealed that much of his work as Din Djarin was based on his grandfather’s iconic presence. Whenever we see John Wayne on screen, we can’t help but notice his signature pose, from the way he walks to the way he stands. According to Brendan, it’s all because, while he’s a very strong man, he has tiny legs. “So he walks on his toes, like a dancer,” he said. He chose it for his own portrayal of Din, who is really a space sniper.
For Seasons 1 and 2 of Mandalorians, Din Djarin’s character was credited only to Pedro Pascal, but that changed for Season 3. Brendan and Lateef finally had their names in there along with Pascal in the credits for the episode, and it was time! A bounty hunter by trade, Mando has all three sides of his character very active at all times, so each actor makes a very important contribution to the role. Still, since guns were his primary way of doing business, Brendan was the one who spent the most time wearing a helmet. Lucky for us, the beskar helmet fits him just as much as the cowboy hat fits his grandpa.