The Star Wars prequels have undergone a huge shift of opinion within the fandom over the past few years, and Jar Jar Binks is part of that. Many have forgiven the character who was once treated as a punching bag, and even those that have a problem with the goofy Gungan are big supporters of Ahmed Best, who gave the role his all and stands as a pioneer of motion capture performances.
In fact, a recent Twitter storm caused by Boba Fett actor Mark Anthony Austin shows just how much things have changed. Austin recently posted an old BTS image (see below) of Best in his Jar Jar get-up on set and wrote: “So glad I got cast as Boba Fett and not some other character,” along with a trio of crying laughter emojis. Clearly, someone didn’t get the memo that prequel-bashing isn’t cool anymore in 2020.
The star – who played the bounty hunter in new scenes shot for the Special Edition of A New Hope – definitely didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for, as fans soon piled into the replies to blast him for his cruel tweet, particularly in light of the fact that Best has admitted the amount of hate he had to endure over the years left him struggling with depression. Austin has since deleted the tweet, but at the time of writing, he hasn’t exactly apologized for posting it.
After everything Ahmed Best went through because of this role, this tweet is in very bad taste. C'mon dude. Ahmed was lucky to be cast as George's favorite character and I'm so glad he's back in Star Wars.
— Shitty Star Wars Posts (@SW_takes) July 31, 2020
Oh wow you played a character that had what? 3 lines of dialogue and what 15 minutes of screen time? Cool beans dood. Jar jar was in three movies and fought in a war. Soooooo whatcha got now bucko?
— Bradley Hail (@BradleyHail) July 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/Mando44646/status/1289539060499992576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1289539060499992576%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fepicstream.com%2Fnews%2FBayaniMiguelAcebedo%2FBoba-Fett-Actor-Trashes-Jar-Jar-Binks-and-Gets-Blasted-by-Fans
Ahmed had a leading role and paved the way for future CGI characters, and you played boba for 30 seconds in the special edition of a new hope. delete this garbage.
— nosferatu (@loomingtrees) July 31, 2020
The day after tweeting, Austin did clarify that he didn’t intend for it to be a dig at Best, commenting that he has “nothing against the guy,” but he made clear that he’s no fan of Jar Jar as a character.
Nothing against the guy playing the character- don’t mix my words. It’s the character I have issues with. https://t.co/G4oFP2Nzwv
— Mark Anthony Austin (@BobaFettANHSE) July 31, 2020
On a more positive note, one fan pointed out that it really says something about how the SW fandom has changed for the better that everybody came to the defence of Jar Jar and Best like this.
I know Star Wars fandom online can suck nowadays, but idea of Star Wars fans unanimously coming together to support Jar Jar Binks and Ahmed Best would have been unfathomable 10 years ago.
Wesa have made progress. 💙 pic.twitter.com/275Mcfmlvr
— Ben Hart The Star Wars Guy 💫 (@BenHartWithNoE) August 1, 2020
Nowadays, Best has added another Star Wars role to his resume – playing Jedi Master Kelleran Beq in Disney Plus’ Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. Boba Fett, meanwhile, will appear in The Mandalorian season 2, as portrayed by Temuera Morrison.