Actors aren’t too different from us in that when they see themselves in photos or on camera, they are hyper-critical of their looks. We’ve all been there. Somebody takes a video of you doing something, and when you look back at the clip, you are overly sensitive about your mannerisms, your facial expressions, or the way you act. To the rest of us, it’s an entirely forgettable thing—if it’s even noticed at all. But when you watch yourself on camera, every little criticism is heightened.

It’s the same way with actors… mostly. Many of them refuse to watch the things they star in, if only because they are so embarrassed and annoyed with their own appearance in them. And others won’t watch those shows because, well, they starred in them! They already know the lines, the plot, and the themes. No need to rewatch something you saw happen the first time when you filmed it, right?

But every now and then, a rare actor comes along who absolutely loves to watch the things they starred in. Call it commitment to the craft, or maybe a touch of narcissism—or a bit of both—but when their movies hit the screens and their shows air on television, they tune in. These are the stories of ten actors who absolutely love to rewatch their own projects after filming is completed so they may bask in the glory of their job well done!

Related: 10 Actors That Are Polar Opposites from Their Characters

10 John Goodman

John Goodman has had some absolutely incredible on-screen roles. His big body (well, until he lost all that weight) and his booming voice certainly attest to it. We can’t ever see him and not think of his iconic sitcom role in Roseanne. And we really can’t ever see him and not think about what is perhaps his most iconic movie role, as the loud-mouth know-it-all Vietnam War veteran bowler Walter in The Big Lebowski. Thankfully, according to John himself, he enjoys watching that movie whenever it comes on! But not necessarily much of his other stuff.

During a press run chat for his role in the 2017 movie Kong: Skull Island, Goodman admitted to an interviewer that he actually does go back and watch some of his old movies! The key word here is “some.” He said: “Some, yeah, some I watch, and some are irritating and tedious.” Sadly, he didn’t say which ones he felt were tedious, though we’d be very curious to know about that. But he did mention two that he always watches whenever they come on television: “If it’s The Big Lebowski or Barton Fink, I’ll stay and watch a little bit, yeah.” We will, too, John! No matter how many times we’ve seen them, we will, too!^[1]

9 Bryan Cranston

When Breaking Bad was on television, most of Bryan Cranston’s co-stars didn’t watch the show when new episodes were released. They had filmed the episodes, the stars reasoned, and so they didn’t need to see how they turned out. Cranston felt very differently, though. He has seen every episode at least once on TV. Not only that, but he wants to watch them all again one day—with a friend or family member who has never seen the show! What better way to introduce somebody to his life’s work, ya know?

“I actually look forward to watching the whole series again with someone who hasn’t seen it who’s close to me, and it’s like, ‘well, let’s sit down,’” Cranston explained during a podcast interview. He even admitted that it would be fun to replay all the best and most memorable parts over and over again for the new viewer. What a way to be introduced to one of the world’s most famous television shows that would be—eagerly, and by the man who starred in it!^[2]

8 Terry Crews

Terry Crews is not afraid to watch himself on screen. In fact, he goes further than most celebrities on this list and watches himself perform in pretty much any format and venue he can get! That means watching and reliving the memories from filming his reality show, The Family Crews. But it also means re-watching his old scripted television and movie roles before that. And it means watching himself in memes and GIFs that have come to populate the internet. Seriously! But Terry doesn’t even stop there. He makes his family watch him work, too!

Speaking to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show one evening, Crews admitted that he forces his poor family to re-watch his appearance on Lip Sync Battle when he needs a pick-me-up. “I could not stop watching my own performance,” Crews bluntly admitted to the late-night host. “You know what I mean? I was like, ‘Y’all want to see ‘Lip Sync’ again?’ and my kids were like, ‘Aw man.’ I was like, ‘No, really, it’s good! Look at this part!’ My wife finally grabbed me like, ‘Give me the remote! I’m going to erase it off the DVR if you don’t stop.’” That’s a pretty funny story, but honestly… we think his wife had it right!^[3]

7 Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson isn’t one of those stars who hates to see themselves on the big screen. Rather, he seeks out the films he’s been in and likes to watch them over and over again. And not only that, but he likes to buy tickets to his movies for other people, too! Typically, Jackson buys $1,000 or more worth of tickets on the opening weekends of his films and then gives those tickets away to his church and other friends. He even prefers to watch his movies in theaters with real folks—and not just at premieres with other actors and Hollywood people—so that he can gauge the honest reaction of the public after the film.

“I watch them at home; I go to the theater,” Jackson explained in an interview on the Graham Norton Show once. “I know, when I have a movie that’s opening, it’s going to make at least $1,000 that weekend because I buy $1,000 worth of tickets. I give them to the church, or I give them to somebody, and their kids go.”

He also watches his movies at home when they pop up on television! He added this reveal to Norton, too: “If I’m sitting at home and if I’m channel surfing, there’s nothing else on, I go into the search engine and go, ‘Samuel Jackson.’ Boom. It’s the truth.” That’s a pretty wild revelation. But if we had Samuel L. Jackson’s acting talent, we might do the same thing!^[4]

6 Keanu Reeves

Of all the stars who enjoy watching their past films and productions, Keanu Reeves’s reasons for it are perhaps the most profound and sentimental. Rather than just watching the films to enjoy his own acting talents, Keanu looks back at old movies with one intention: to recall the memories and enjoyable times he had behind the scenes during production. He enjoys thinking back to where he was at that point in his life and what his world was like. And more often than not, the walk down memory lane gets him smiling again.

“Watching old films from the past, it kind of is, for me, like thinking about the memories of making it,” Reeves admitted in an interview once. “It’s kind of like a photo album, so it takes me back to the people that you worked with or the experiences of making it. And once in a while… especially with a certain amount of time between the performing of it and then watching it, you know, you can go, ‘Oh yeah, that movie was pretty good.” In our opinion, he’s been in a lot of movies that we can say that about!^[5]

5 Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino was once asked by radio shock jock legend Howard Stern to pick his favorite movie of his own that he ever made. And the legendary filmmaker didn’t hesitate to levy a surprising (or maybe not so surprising) choice on the radio DJ: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino may have picked pretty quickly. But just because that was his favorite of his own movies, it doesn’t mean that he’s one of those stars who doesn’t go back to watch his other films, either. In fact, Tarantino very regularly watches the movies that he’s made. He’s proud of them, and he enjoys them, and he wants to see how they come out on the big screen.

“I love them,” he told Stern. “I love my movies. I’m making them for me, everybody else is invited. Anytime my movies are on the TV, I’m like, ‘Oh hey! Now I’m watching Jackie Brown for a while.’ I’m very happy with my work.” Honestly, that’s probably how we would react, too, if we made movies. After all, what’s the point of doing all that work if you’re not going to enjoy the finished product, right? (And not to mention, but if YOU don’t enjoy your movie when it’s done… other people probably won’t, either!)^[6]

4 Ice Cube

Funny enough, Ice Cube watches all of his old movies—but he doesn’t want anybody to know it! Instead, it took actor Jonah Hill to call him out on it once before that fact bubbled up to the surface. According to Jonah, he was once on a flight with Ice Cube and their 21 Jump Street co-star Channing Tatum when the duo noticed that the rapper was watching one of his old films. They figured it out because they saw Ice Cube watching something and hysterically laughing. But for the longest time, they couldn’t figure out what he was laughing about! Until they finally walked by and saw that the gangster rap aficionado was tuned in to Friday and loving every minute of it!

“We walked by the computer screen, we walked by to go to the bathroom, we looked, and he’s watching Friday,” Hill admitted to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. “He was watching his own movie. He couldn’t get enough of it.” Jonah and Channing couldn’t get enough of it, either, and they found themselves laughing very hard at how much Ice Cube was laughing at his own past acting performance.^[7]

3 Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston starred in the sitcom Friends for a decade. And she came out of the show as perhaps the most well-known of its six main characters. She was so popular throughout the ’90s, in fact, that women started going to their hairstylists and asking for the “Jennifer Aniston” cut to look just like her! So it makes sense that she would want to relive her old glory days from time to time by watching past episodes of Friends. Every now and then, when an old episode comes up, she happily takes the time to watch it and think back to the memories she made while on set acting in it.

“I have to say that when I’m channel surfing, whenever I do watch television, which is not often, but if I land on it, I do stop and watch,” she shared during an interview a few years back. “Absolutely. It’s very nostalgic. It makes me laugh. It always made me laugh. When we were shooting it, we would laugh; we couldn’t get through it half the time. That was something great to be able to do for 10 years—just laugh.”

Then, in 2020, she put her money where her mouth was, as they say! During an interview with Variety, the longtime actress had a mini Friends reunion with former co-star Lisa Kudrow. The duo went onto YouTube to look for old episodes of their sitcom and watch a bunch of compilation clips that had been uploaded by fans. Truly feeling the nostalgia of their time in the spotlight and their run in primetime television—and carrying a lot of pride through it all!^[8]

2 John Boyega

John Boyega may have had the break of a lifetime when he got involved with the Star Wars franchise. And so it would make sense that he loves to rewatch the Star Wars films as often as he can—including the ones he’s been in! But it’s not exactly what you think. See, he’s not watching the movie to reminisce about his own performance. It’s more that he wants to see all the other scenes in the movie that he wasn’t around to film. He’s fascinated by how they came together and what the story looks like. So, when those movies hit theaters, he wants to be a part of the viewing experience!

“I’m not just interested in my performance because there’s a whole bunch of the film I actually don’t get to experience,” Boyega once said in an interview. “So, I like watching all of it. I like to see the visual effects come together and all that stuff. You judge yourself on the first watch, but I feel like the more and more you watch it… you get to experience it in a much more natural way.” Makes sense to us. There is a lot of a movie that actors don’t get to see if they are only asked to show up to film their own scenes!^[9]

1 Kaley Cuoco

Even though she hasn’t been on that show for years now, and even though it’s been more than two decades since it first premiered (time flies!), Kaley Cuoco still rewatches 8 Simple Rules on a regular basis. For her, it’s not only a show that she loves to watch because of the fond memories she has of filming it, though. There’s also the emotional side of things—namely, her time working with the late John Ritter early in the show’s run before his sudden and tragic passing. In that way, rewatching the show allows her to think back to her time with John and how much he lit up the set with his personality.

“Once in a while, if it is on in the background, yes,” Kaley admitted to Us Weekly about deciding to rewatch old episodes. And she does that on a very regular basis! “Once in a while, I peek at it, and it brings me a lot of fond memories. Especially when we do the Three’s Company episode. That is still something that gets me to this day.” We can only imagine what it’s like seeing the much-respected Ritter alive and well on screen in that sweet moment stuck in time. No doubt it makes her emotional every time she sees it!^[10]

Many Star Wars fans are not particularly happy about the new movies, and some feel that Disney threw out the baby with the bathwater when it came to the expanded universe. See, before Disney took over, Star Wars had a huge amount of extra material (novels, comics, etc.), referred to as the expanded universe, or EU.

It used to be that all of the EU was considered canon unless directly contradicted by a movie. However, when Disney came along, they declared that the EU was all just “legends” told within the Star Wars universe. While they can still use elements of it of they so desire, they have chopped the whole thing to pieces, and there were a lot of good reasons why.

10 The ‘Big Three’ Were Far Beyond The Age Of Most EU Stories

One of the biggest reasons that Disney had to go ahead and just throw out the baby with the bathwater is that a huge wealth of the EU stories involved the “big three” (Han, Luke, and Leia), and the actors were advancing in years. Most of these books were written back when the three were still in their prime and were quite popular as depictions of the characters go, but it’s hard to imagine how you could change a lot of the stories enough to make up for such an age gap.

The truth is that what the fans wanted was something fairly shortly after Return of the Jedi—as close as could be plausibly done—and a story that had a young Han, Luke, and Leia simply could not work. For this reason, an incredible amount of EU story lines already had to be scrapped. People simply wouldn’t have been able to suspend their disbelief. Unfortunately, no one would have believed that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, or Carrie Fisher were in their thirties.^[1]

9 Anakin Solo’s Entire Existence Was A Sore Point For George Lucas

In the Star Wars expanded universe, Han and Leia get married and have three kids.^[2] Two of them are twins named Jacen and Jaina, which some fans wished had been replicated at least in some form in the new movies. In fact, it is for this reason that many fans really like the idea of Rey and Ben secretly being brother and sister—it would fulfill the fan wish for Han and Leia to have had twins. However, the Solos also had another child, and George Lucas kind of wished they hadn’t.

In one of the crazier comics, Leia has her womb touched by the cloned Emperor Palpatine while she’s pregnant—another reason to ax the EU—and is worried about how it may affect her son and make him dark in the future. In order to honor her father, and somehow try to show that the name can be overcome, she names her third child Anakin, after her murderous cyborg father. George Lucas was never happy about this character, if nothing else, because he felt fans would confuse him with Anakin Skywalker. Lucas was reportedly pleased when the kid was finally killed off later on in the New Jedi Order series.

8 Many Of The Most Popular Characters Had Already Been Ruined Or Killed

As we mentioned above, in the EU, Anakin Solo was killed off in The New Jedi Order, but they killed a wealth of other characters in that series and since as well.^[3]The New Jedi Order killed off mostly side characters apart from Chewbacca and Anakin Solo, but after that, the purge really got going. Jacen Solo went to the dark side and was eventually killed by his twin sister. Meanwhile, Mara Jade, Luke Skywalker’s expanded universe wife, gets killed by Jacen Solo, her own nephew, when she tries to confront him and bring him back to the light. Han becomes a washed-up wreck, and Luke goes into exile; Luke’s son Ben gets killed as well.

In the end, nearly every main character that was remotely interesting either dies, loses all the people close to them and becomes a sad sack, or first experiences the second one and then the other—kind of like most Game of Thrones characters. By the time Disney got its hands on the franchise, you could practically count on one hand the amount of interesting characters left whose stories hadn’t already been driven into the ground with incredible force. In the end, Disney felt they needed to be able to go their own route with old characters and be able to feel more free to introduce new ones as well.

7 The Ssi-Ruuk Would Have Given Awkward Questions For Kids To Ask Their Parents

In Star Wars‘s early days, there were a few novels that just kind of left everyone wondering what kind of drugs the author was using. This was mainly because back then, the people in charge, Bantam Books, were basically just letting a lot of sci-fi authors try their hand at the universe and see what they came up with. Still, it is kind of hard to figure out how this one not only made it past the editors but even got a reprisal years later in the form of multiple appearances in The New Jedi Order—a 19-book series.

The Sii-Ruuk are a species that shows up in The Truce at Bakura, and they use a process called entechment to suck out your soul, slave it to a piece of machinery, and use your life energy to power it.^[4] You are stuck in a nightmarish state, powering their desk lamp or whatever until your energy finally fades, your soul passes on, and you die. This is a terrible, horrific thing that really belongs in the most disturbing sci-fi horror novel, but instead, it makes multiple appearances in the Star Wars EU. This is an example of killing it with fire not even being nearly enough.

6 The Yuuzhan Vong Made Such A Mess That A Hard Reset Was Almost Necessary

The Yuuzhan Vong were introduced largely in The New Jedi Order.^[5] This series focused on the invasion of the Star Wars galaxy by a group of extragalactic invaders called the Yuuzhan Vong. This species was largely humanoid but was a black hole in the Force. You could not feel them in the Force or use Force powers on them, but they could not use the Force at all themselves. They came in great numbers and swarmed through the galaxy, almost taking over and destroying everything. Using great organic machines, they reshaped entire worlds to their will.

What made the entire thing so bizarre, and almost ruined the universe from that point forth, is what they left behind. These invaders eschewed all conventional technology and pleasure and thought it evil. They worshiped pain and were extremely sadistic and masochistic. All of their weapons and technology were actually living, which was extremely bizarre and otherworldly. Their shapers, a group of their species responsible for massive genetic engineering, changed entire worlds and left their ridiculous organic matter and other invasive organisms littered all over the universe. The entire thing was simply too crazy for the Star Wars universe and ruined it forever—a hard reset was almost necessary after the horrible disaster of the New Jedi Order series, which never should have been and whose creators should still be ashamed by the existence of.

5 The EU Is So Complicated That One Man’s Entire Job Is Keeping It All Together

One thing many people who are only casual fans (not that there’s anything wrong with that) are unaware of is just how mind-bogglingly huge the entirety of the Star Wars continuity is. There are so many stories throughout so many comics, role-playing game write-ups, novels, short stories, video games, movies, cartoons, and so much media that some may consider it impossible to keep track of. However, there is actually one man whose job it is to do just that.

His name is Leland Chee, and his official title is “Keeper of the Holocron.”^[6] He has been at it for decades now, and even with the EU no longer official canon, they still want someone to keep track of the old continuity as well as the new timeline, so he still has a job. It is an incredibly staggering task, but he has managed to keep a comprehensive timeline updated over the years, with levels of “canon” for every single story for decades. However, this was all just one more reason that Disney felt they needed to tell people to just enjoy the old stories and stop worrying so much about actual continuity in a fictional universe. While Disney still has its own new continuity now, it is a much less crowded galaxy to work in with the old EU now being legends.

4 The Next 30-Odd Years After Return Of The Jedi Have Basically No Breathing Room

Another big problem facing Disney wasn’t just the big three but that even if they did want to cast them in a story, they had already been written into a corner. The period in the 30 years or so after Return of the Jedi has been by far the most popular era to write stories for in Star Wars, so that period is incredibly congested.^[7] Nearly every single moment is filled thick with story, and there really isn’t much of anything you can do to fit anything significantly new in anymore.

The fans wanted new movies in the period after Return of the Jedi, but that period is glutted with stories, and many of them are, quite frankly, terrible. A clean slate allows the writers a chance to simply write a good story and allows for new, young fans to get into Star Wars without needing to go read several dozen to a couple hundred books to get up to speed with everything that is going on in the universe.

3 Changing Anything From One Medium To Another Often Just Disappoints Fans

When Harry Potter was transferred to the big screen, some fans really liked it, and some were incredibly disappointed. Some of the later movies, especially, have been criticized as feeling rushed, and many feel in hindsight that it wasn’t just movie seven that should have had two parts to properly tell the story. However, while it is understandable that Harry Potter and its prodigious length made it especially difficult, it is always hard to translate a book into film. Books are told in an entirely different way, where everything is told to people. On the other hand, movies are a medium where everything is shown to people.

This is why the powers that be are likely reluctant to use book stories from the Star Wars expanded universe for new Star Wars movies. One medium often doesn’t translate well to the other, so it really makes more sense, if you can, to just write an original story rather than trying to translate a preexisting one from a book to a movie. It also creates an air of expectation that can be hard to live up to. If you say you are taking heavy inspiration from a particular book, certain fans will get upset the more you deviate from the source material,^[8] and that disappointment can lead to long-term lost revenue streams.

2 It’s Hard To Have Suspense When People Know The Story Already

Probably the biggest reason of all, though, one which many fans do not tend to think as much about, that Disney decided to go ahead and throw out the EU is because they want to be able to surprise people. The truth is that if you go with story lines that most people already know and don’t deviate from them much, there really isn’t going to be that much surprise, just you bringing a previously told story to the big screen.^[9] While there are plenty of people who will enjoy it, it just won’t spread through word of mouth as much or fuel as much excitement for the next movie.

If you already pretty much know what is going to happen, there really isn’t anything at all to speculate about or talk about, so there is little discussion surrounding the film. This means little to no hype and hardly anyone but the really big fans going to see the movie. The writers know that if you really want a large, general audience, you need a new story that will give people something to talk about for sometimes years to come while they wait for the next installment. For this reason, using preexisting EU stories simply weren’t practical, so Disney decided to go in a different direction.

1 They Can Still Use Characters Or Elements From The EU As They See Fit

The final reason Disney got rid of the EU is because while they did need it gone, it is never really gone if they do need any of it. The EU still has a wealth of existing planets, characters, aliens, organizations, technologies, and all sorts of other things to draw on. While all previous story lines may be axed, they can borrow if they want and bring out fan favorites all the same. For example, due to the way they were written, without even knowing how the prequel trilogy would go down, the first Star Wars expanded universe trilogy by Timothy Zahn will never be adapted into film.

However, the character Grand Admiral Thrawn, a blue alien who uses his knowledge of art to analyze his opponents, is a fan favorite, and Disney has already brought him into the official canon in all new stories.^[10] The truth is that the EU wasn’t truly destroyed; it was just marginalized so that Disney could make sense of the entire mess. All of the old content is still there and can and will be drawn on as needed, but there is simply no benefit to continuing the old continuity system—sometimes you need to start fresh.

We have finally arrived at the end of the Skywalker saga. All nine movies were wrapped up with a neat little bow when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released in cinemas around the world in December 2019.

Now that the saga is over (or at least the numbered films), let’s look back at some of the fun and cool ideas that didn’t quite make it into The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, or The Rise of Skywalker. Here are the top 10 unused Star Wars sequel trilogy ideas.

10 Ideas George Lucas Wanted To See In The New ‘Star Wars’ Movies

10 Han Solo The Drunk

While Han Solo is undoubtedly the most lovable scoundrel in the galaxy, his introduction in The Force Awakens would have been drastically different in this story line. Rather than going back to the life of a smuggler after separating with Leia (due to their son’s fall to the dark side of the Force), Han would have turned to the bottle instead.

A piece of concept art shared on Lucasfilm artist Christian Alzmann’s Instagram page shows Solo drinking his problems away in some seedy establishment by outlasting every exotic patron around.^[1]

Although this could have been a fun idea and a nice bit of character development for Han, it would have been a little too heavy and “real” for what is essentially a fun and upbeat movie.

9 A Bald Kylo Ren

The Last Jedi was a real roller coaster of a movie. Although it divided the Star Wars fan base, it can’t be denied that director Rian Johnson made some bold decisions as to the direction of the film and its characters.

Speaking of bold . . . early concept art for the highly volatile Kylo Ren depicts him as being completely bald. Johnson wanted Kylo to have a duality to his character—part good, part bad. The harsh, bald look would have contrasted with his sleeker and smoother outfit.

In the end, it was decided that the dreamiest bad guy in all of Star Wars did need that luscious head of hair. The egghead look would have been too much of a departure from the character we knew in The Force Awakens.^[2]

8 The Alternate Opening Shot Of The Last Jedi

Star Wars movies (at least the numbered ones) traditionally start off with the crawl that pans down—and, on one occasion, up—to reveal a planet. While The Last Jedi follows suit, the film was originally meant to begin in a somewhat different way.

The crawl would happen and fade away into the depths of space. Then the camera would pan down to reveal a planet . . . but wait . . . it’s not a planet. The audience’s expectations are subverted, and it is revealed that this “planet” is the domed top of the medical capsule where Finn is recovering after he sustained injuries in the previous movie.

This interesting idea was filmed and even included in the deleted scenes on the home release. But it didn’t make the final cut. Instead, The Last Jedi gets off to a more action-packed start with the Resistance’s evacuation of their base and the First Order attack.^[3]

7 Rey Was Going To Be Called Keera

When J.J. Abrams first got the ball rolling on what would become The Force Awakens, he only knew that he wanted a female lead. But according to Daisy Ridley, who played this Star Wars heroine, the undefined character did have a name attached to her: Keera (or Kira, depending on whom you ask).

The name seemed to be an almost sure thing. However, when filming for Episode VII began in the Abu Dhabi desert in 2014, Abrams changed the character’s name at the last minute to Rey.^[4]

The name Keera wasn’t completely abandoned, though. It was repurposed and changed to the slightly more exotic-looking Qi’ra for Emilia Clarke’s character in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

6 The Underwater Millennium Falcon

Everyone recognizes the Millennium Falcon as the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy. But did you know that there was early concept art in which the Falcon journeyed under the sea?

The official Star Wars Twitter account tweeted out an image of the submerged spacecraft approaching the spire that housed Emperor Palpatine’s throne room from Return of the Jedi.

Clearly, the notion of an underwater exploration was scrapped early during the production of the trilogy. But the idea of the Millennium Falcon being watertight as well as airtight is awesome!^[5]

Top 10 ‘Star Wars’ Background Characters You Never Even Noticed

5 The Warhammer

Bad guys get all the cool things—cool armor, cool masks, and even cool superweapons!

In The Force Awakens, the newly formed Resistance needed something to tackle the First Order’s new system-destroying Starkiller Base (pictured above). Enter The Warhammer. This Resistance superweapon was going to drive a wedge between the New Republic and General Leia Organa, but she took great pride in this secret weapon.

Unfortunately, The Warhammer would have been destroyed during the attack on Starkiller Base, rendering The Warhammer useless to the overall plot of the movie. Still, it’s cool to know that the good guys almost had a superweapon, too.^[6]

4 Force Ghost Anakin . . . And Darth Vader

The Skywalker saga is inarguably the story of Anakin Skywalker. The prequel trilogy explains his rise, the original trilogy depicts his fall, and the sequel trilogy shows his legacy. Despite his large presence in the first two trilogies, Anakin remains largely absent from the sequels. However, this was not originally going to be the case.

A Force ghost Anakin was going to show himself to either Rey or Kylo Ren. However, this ghost character was going to slip back and forth between the good—Anakin Skywalker—and the bad—Darth Vader. Speaking about the idea in the book The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, artist Iain McCaig said:

When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow. That inspired me to propose, for the first time, that Anakin’s ghost could come back. [ . . . ] If we see Anakin Skywalker, because he does flow back and forth between Darth Vader and Anakin, let’s see him as a character with a dark and light side.

Although the idea never made it very far, it’s an extremely cool concept to highlight that this is still the story of Anakin Skywalker. Luckily, he did finally make his comeback (albeit only in voice form) in The Rise Of Skywalker.^[7]

3 The Floating Hand

We’ve talked about the alternate opening shot of The Last Jedi, but there was also an alternate opening for The Force Awakens: The camera pans down from the iconic opening crawl to see not a planet but a hand!

It’s Luke Skywalker’s severed hand from The Empire Strikes Back—the one that Darth Vader chopped off during their climactic battle on Cloud City. The hand—still clinging to the lightsaber—floats through space and ends up falling toward the planet Jakku. The lightsaber (without the hand, which burns up as it enters the atmosphere) lands on Jakku and is eventually picked up by Rey or another heroic character.

Although the opening of the movie was changed to something more traditional, actor Mark Hamill confirmed that the alternate macabre opening was in a rough cut of the film.^[8]

2 The Eye Of Web­bish Bog

The Rise Of Skywalker opens with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren rampaging through the desolate forests of Mustafar in search of a mysterious wayfinder. However, Ren’s encounter with a creature called the Eye of Webbish Bog didn’t make it into the final cut of the movie.

The creature was conceived as a pasty-skinned being that merged with a spidery tentacle parasite that lived in a rancid lake near the ruins of Darth Vader’s castle (as seen in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story). The abomination would have pointed Ren in the right direction to find the coveted wayfinder that would lead him safely through the unknown regions of the galaxy.

Although the Eye of Webbish Bog never made it to the screen (presumably because it would have made Ren’s quest extra confusing), it is one of the few things on this list that has found life in the novelization of the movie.^[9]

1 The Whills Of The Force

Until relatively recently, this renegade idea had never made it any further than the mind of the original creator of Star Wars, George Lucas himself. His idea for the entire sequel trilogy (had he kept the rights to Star Wars and made the movies himself) was to focus on the midichlorians (or midi-chlorians), the microscopic life-forms that live within Force-sensitive people.

Lucas wanted to ground the Force in the biological world. Although it would have taken away the mysticism of the Force, this idea would have provided a fascinating new angle from which to view the saga. Lucas explained it this way:

Back in the day, I used to say . . . we were just cars, vehicles for the Whills to travel around in. [ . . . ] We’re vessels for them. And the conduit is the midichlorians. The midichlorians are the ones that communicate with the Whills. The Whills, in a general sense, they are the Force.^[10]

Unfortunately, Lucas decided to sell his company Lucasfilm (which included the rights to the Star Wars movie franchise) to Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion. He also provided Disney with an outline for a sequel trilogy. But Disney largely ignored Lucas’s ideas and took the Star Wars franchise in a much different direction.

10 Reasons Disney Axed The ‘Star Wars’ Expanded Universe

The Force is strong with this one, or maybe they had too much to drink that night and came up with a ridiculous fan theory. Okay, I’m probably being too harsh, but sometimes, no matter how much you love a franchise, your convoluted, left-field theories can be, well, convoluted left-field theories. And from savage Ewoks to Jar Jar’s fictional stint as a Sith Lord, there’s no shortage of them for “Star Wars.”

Here are the top 10 outlandish Star Wars fan theories.

Related: 10 Awesome Fan Theories About Extremely Popular Series

10 Jar Jar Binks Is the True Villain of “Star Wars”

All Lumpawarroo, a Redditor, wanted to do was justify Jar Jar Binks’s character. I mean, how much crap can a character take? The Gungan is awkward, clumsy, kind of racist, an outcast; he is so obviously flawed it’s not even funny (I mean, it is, but…). Anyway, Lumpawarroo believed that Binks is the way he is because he’s actually the true villain of Star Wars. If his flaws are resolved, so too will the universe be made right.

9 Mace Windu Is Grumpy Because He’s Jealous

Mace Windu is the pissant of Star Wars. He ticks people off, he’s not the friendliest of people, and he presents himself as the frowning old grandpa who is constantly belittling the younger generations. Still, he’s a unique character with an awesome saber and successfully plays both Jedi and Dark Side.

Granted that his less than gracious attitude toward Anakin is seemingly founded in the evil he feels emanating from Anakin, one fan theory suggests that Windu is a grump all the time because he was supposed to be the Chosen One. The Chosen One is the prophesized individual who is supposed to destroy the Sith and return the balance to the Force. Why say this? Well, for one, Windu doesn’t believe in Anakin’s abilities. But Windu is arrogant, so that’s not too much of a stretch.

The main argument, though, is that Windu did try to assassinate Palpatine to balance the Force himself. Once Anakin finds out that Palpatine is a Sith Lord, Windu takes Palpatine into his own hands. However, since he’s not the Chosen One, he fails. 

But wouldn’t this just make Windu a superior character? He is more talented than most of the OG characters and astute enough to realize that Palpatine needs to go, like, immediately. Sure, it may have been arrogance that led to Windu’s outcome, but Windu’s not jealous; he’s just right (and better than everyone else).

8 Lucas Pokes at Spielberg in “The Phantom Menace”

This one isn’t so outlandish as creators and directors place easter eggs in things all the time. But perhaps this one is a case of mistaken identity. In The Phantom Menace, some fans believe they see E.T. (as in, “E.T. phone home,” E.T.). If you skip to the scene where alien races attempt to dismiss Chancellor Velorum, you can see a group of aliens that look just like the guy! Since Spielberg and Lucas have a history together, people believe this is an easter egg to their directorial alliance.

7 Just Because They Look Alike…

Jumping to one of the more recent Star Wars films, there’s a fan theory that states that Jyn Erso is Rey’s mother. Unfortunately, there are some major timeline discrepancies that disprove this theory.

Erso first appears in Rogue One, which, in the ‘verse, puts it before A New Hope (oBBY). Okay, so, if Erso were Rey’s mother, that would mean that Rey was 34 in The Force Awakens, which she isn’t. Yeah, I know the two actresses look alike, but it’s a coincidence. Erso is not Rey’s mother. Believe me. 

In The Rise of Skywalker, British actress Jodie Comer makes a cameo as Rey’s mother, who, it turns out, is a veritable nobody. Rey’s father, on the other hand, is Palpatine’s son. Her parents abandoned her to protect her from her grandfather, but of course, Rey doesn’t find this out until much later.

6 Snoke Is Vader

Uh, no, Snoke is not Vader. Snoke, for those who need a refresher, is the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He’s the guy who convinced Kylo to join the dark side. But as outlandish as the theory may seem, it did start within the Star Wars universe itself.

The fan theory arose out of the idea that Palpatine’s spirit was transferred to Vader’s body, which in turn became Snoke. Too bad we see Luke burning Vader’s body… Thanks for not confirming this one, Star Wars.

5 Snoke Is Luke’s Wife?

Would people drop the Snoke speculation already? This one is really pushing the boundaries of what is possible. But I guess when you don’t really have anything to go on for an origin story, you’ll cling to whatever sounds good (even though we have an origin story for Snoke at this point.)

YouTuber Crazy Kahzmoh suggested that Snoke is Luke’s wife (or husband) and Rey is their daughter. Another similar theory states that Rey is their adopted daughter. It’s not Luke’s sexuality that brings issue with this theory; it’s the fact that we know this isn’t true. Hey, we’re all about shipping Snoke and Luke, but if you keep believing this one after what we know, you’re ridic.

4 Snoke Is Jar Jar Binks

This is similar to our first theory, but different.

In this Snoke theory, Jar Jar Binks, who is actually a proficient and talented Force user, collaborates with the Sith and eventually becomes Snoke. This fan theory produced some sweet Darth Binks fan art but doesn’t really hold any water. Sometimes, we just need to accept that Binks is a fool with no other purpose than to be a fool. He wasn’t tricking anyone as to how intelligent he was as Yoda did in Empire; there wasn’t anything deep to Palpatine’s hologram fakeout in The Force Awakens.

Snoke was created by Palpatine to rule in his absence.

3 Luke Didn’t Blow Up the Death Star

We know that Luke blew up the Death Star. Trusting the Force, he fired two proton torpedos into the reactor core and bye-bye Death Star! But one Redditor claims to have heard a theory that argues otherwise. For this one, the Stormtroopers are the ones who did it.

Like their inability to hit a target, they also can’t press a button. This refers to the scene right before the explosion when they say, “Standby.” So yup! Stormtroopers blew up the Death Star. Maybe it’s the one who hit his head against the door frame.

2 The Jedi Aren’t as “Good” as You’d Like to Believe

Sometimes, the theories we think are the most impossible are actually spot on, and this has happened a lot in Star Wars. For instance, Palpatine created Snoke, Rey is a Palpatine, Boba Fett survives the pit, etc. One theory, however, is a bit more philosophical and blurs the lines of right and wrong in the franchise.

When we think of Jedi versus Sith, we immediately think of good versus evil. That’s because our protagonists are usually Jedi, and we want to believe that the main character of an adventure film is the good guy. We want to cheer for the good guys! But think about it. Jedi aren’t as heroic as they seem (thank you, Anakin). And who can blame him?

First of all, the Jedi are essentially a Star Wars mafia. They offer “protection” but with some heavy political influence attached. They don’t like people opposing the Republic and want the Jedi Order to remain the political system. Follow the Jedi, or leave. Second, their practices are kind of extreme. They take children from their families and subject them to intense and dangerous training. Qui-Gon essentially enters a young (child status) Anakin in a deadly pod race for materials.

Third, and probably the strongest argument for the theory, comes from the lips of Luke Skywalker. In The Last Jedi he tells Rey that a Jedi’s vanity is their downfall and that they need to die off.

1 Darth Maul Is Still Alive

I like Darth Maul because he is seemingly so one-off, so cool, and—personally—underrated. Plus his face. Who else has a face like that? Anyway, this theory suggests that Darth Maul, the vengeful Sith Lord, is still alive simply because of his impact in The Phantom Menace. In other words, he was just too badass to die.

I mean, he did take down Qui-Gon Jinn. If anyone is going to take down the maverick Jedi, it better be someone equally as cool. But obviously, Obi-Wan and Owen Lars killed Darth Maul, so how is there any chance of him being able to survive that blast to the head?

Hatred. Yes, let the hate flow through you.

Darth Maul was shown alive in The Clone Wars after his brother found him sporting some mechanical spider legs. Design choices aside, this was definitely a shock to audiences and a win for the theorists out there. Maul’s hatred for Obi-Wan is what kept this guy kickin’, even though he is half spider now. 

On September 8, 1966, Star Trek (often referred to as The Original Series) aired on NBC for the first time. The episode was called “The Man Trap,” and it featured a woman who could morph into a rather gruesome salt vampire, both shocking in appearance and behavior. It also grabbed the attention of the American public, which was starting to take science fiction seriously. Though the series was canceled in its third season, it had an incredible following in reruns and inspired a large, globally well-known franchise.

As of 2021, there have been 13 Star Trek movies and 11 television series (three of them animated), with several other TV projects in the works and another movie due in 2023. Star Trek is everywhere, and its influence has pervaded our media, language, technology, and even the future of our nation’s military and exploratory missions. The presence of Star Trek in our culture is a phenomenon unto itself…

Related: 10 Modern Technologies That Almost Turned Out Differently

10 Let’s Start with the Enterprise

In 1775, a British sloop-of-war named George was captured by American forces led by none other than Col. Benedict Arnold, who rechristened the ship USS Enterprise. It served in the Revolutionary War but was burned in 1777 to avoid recapture. For two centuries, a long line of Enterprises, one after another, would serve the U.S. Navy, the last two gaining a lot of public glory. The USS Enterprise commissioned in 1938 was an aircraft carrier and the most decorated ship in WW2, and the one commissioned in 1961 was the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the world!

So when Star Trek was in the planning stages during the mid-1960s, the name Enterprise was in common usage and held in high esteem in the U.S. It was the inspiration for naming the ship that Captain Kirk would command. But with the popularity the show would gather, the naming game took a significant turn…

In 1974 NASA started building the first space shuttle, choosing the name Constitution for their revolutionary new spacecraft (though in truth, it was destined to be experimental and never left the Earth’s atmosphere). However, a large letter-writing campaign targeted NASA over that decision, and in 1976 when the shuttle made its first public appearance in Palmdale, CA, the word Enterprise was painted on its side. Several Star Trek actors were in attendance for the ceremony, along with Gene Roddenberry, the show’s creator.

Virgin Galactic’s first SpaceShipTwo spaceplane, the VSS Enterprise, took its premier flight in October 2010. Of course, it had also been named in honor of Star Trek, but it lacked the fictional ship’s longevity, crashing four years later due to premature deployment of its descent system.

The U.S. Navy is currently building a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier called, once again, the USS Enterprise, due to launch in 2025 to replace the older warship, which was decommissioned in 2017. And it’s a sure bet that there’ll be more toasts to Captain Kirk at the ceremony than to a historically scandalized Colonel Arnold.^[1]

9 The NASA/Star Trek Connection

Since NASA’s compliance with that mid-1970s letter-writing campaign to rename their first shuttle Enterprise, a partnership of sorts has seemed to develop between the government agency and the influence of Star Trek. It’s almost as if the show’s huge popularity in its many manifestations has helped to mold and shape NASA as it reaches out into space, and the agency isn’t fighting the collaboration one bit…

After writing a series of columns in magazines encouraging minority and women participation in the space program, Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) was invited by NASA to work with recruitment. This stint lasted from 1977 to well into the 1980s. Nichols was a huge success in her alliance with NASA, and one of her ’78 recruits was Dr. Sally Ride, who would become the first female American to reach outer space. She would also have a Federation starship named after her—the USS (Sally) Ride—at least in the realm of Star Trek: Discovery. This is only one of the many examples of Starfleet crossover themes that influence NASA and the agency’s decisions.

The thing is, people who work at NASA grew up watching Star Trek, and the show helped influence the job paths they would later choose, which is why you can see pop-cultural references scattered throughout the agency. For example, in 1993, the entire crew of the shuttle Endeavor posed for a picture dressed in Starfleet uniforms, one of them offering the Vulcan greeting. And in 2012, when the shuttle Enterprise arrived at JFK Airport en route to its final destination—the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum—Leonard Nimoy (Spock) was there to return the gesture. Actually, it’s not unusual for American astronauts to publicly pose in Star Trek uniforms. However, in 2014, when William Shatner received NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal, he chose to wear a cowboy hat and jeans.

And back in 2010, when the Space Shuttle Discovery brought the newfangled Window Observational Research Facility up to the International Space Station, the crew wore mission patches that contained letters from the fictitious Klingon language. It seems the moment someone at NASA realized that the acronym for the project—WORF—was also the name of a Klingon character played by Michael Dorn, they just couldn’t help adding the name in his native language to their patches.

But the most shocking display of Star Trek’s influence on NASA would have to be the IXS Enterprise, a conceptual starship capable of warp drive. Through CGI, the ship is made to look somewhat like the TV Enterprise mixed with design elements of the space shuttle, though it is surrounded by two warp rings. It is incredibly profound that engineers who grew up watching Star Trek are currently designing starships that will one day perform like the ones in Starfleet and resemble them. Freaky!^[2]

8 Mobile Devices

While the development of individual cellphones sprang from preexisting cellular technology such as car phones and pagers, and while these gadgets predated the Star Trek franchise by a good 20 years, still the handheld communicators used by the crew of the Enterprise cannot be discounted from the evolution of our present-day mobile phones. Martin Cooper of Motorola, who led the team that developed the first portable cellphone in 1973, has admitted part of his inspiration came from watching Captain Kirk speak into his gadget. In truth, he’s also stated that Dick Tracy’s wrist radio was his inspiration, but in the ’90s, manufacturers began designing phones that looked an awful lot more like the one Kirk held…

The very first flip phone released in 1996 was called the Motorola StarTAC! Coincidence? Ask Cingular, who released in 2006 the HTC Startrek, not even trying to mask the spelling. Of course, the following year, Apple released the iPhone, completely changing the direction cell phone design would take. However, flip phones are still marketed and have loyal followers who enjoy emulating Kirk each time they make a call.

Smartphones with large touchscreens—predominantly iPhones and Androids—became incredibly popular shortly after their inception, and the technology they used was extended early on to tablets. Perhaps iPad owners should feel as if they’re emulating Captain Jean-Luc Picard each time they use their device. On Star Trek: The Next Generation and other shows set in that timeline, the crew members utilize rectangular, computerized personal devices of various sizes with touch screen technology. These were introduced on TV a good twenty years before Apple rolled out the innovative iPad to the public.

And back in the day, you might have enjoyed playing MP3s on your tablet—digital files developed by Karlheinz Brandenburg after watching an episode of The Next Generation in which Data (Brent Spiner) used the computer to listen to music selections.^[3]

This type of inspiration hasn’t just happened with mobile devices. The first home computer—the MITS Altair 8800, which came out in 1975—has been rumored to have been named after the star mentioned in the episode “Amok Time” on The Original Series. It was also a good place to play a text-based video game called Star Trek…if you didn’t mind waiting like FOREVER for the game to load.

7 The Thingamabob in Uhura’s Ear

Communications Officer Lt. Uhura was a stylish gal if ever there were one, what with her groovy-green hoop earrings, flawless hairdo (unless the ship was attacked), super-chic boots, and crazy-cute mini-dress in lipstick red. Her nails were polished, her eyes sparkled, and she had the legs of a ballerina. Yet, she sat at her post each day with an unsightly, metal doohickey in her ear that looked like something that fell out of the wall in Engineering—and probably should have been returned to Scotty pronto!

Her earpiece was a wireless receiver connected to the ship’s computer, and it allowed her freedom of movement while monitoring signals and messages. The Original Series actually boasted a heap of wireless technology, from subspace communication to instantaneous viewscreen transmissions. Even their transporter technology could be considered to be an extremely complex stream of wireless information.

Back in the ’60s, when the show was on the air, most of what we consider today to be wireless was in stages of development. If asked to find something wireless at home, the average American might have pointed at a transistor radio, perhaps the TV (uncertain if the power cord counted), and possibly the kids’ walkie-talkies. Today, however, we don’t give those reruns with Uhura’s earpiece or Kirk’s communicator a second thought, for we are constantly surrounded by wireless signals that help us communicate, recreate, and even navigate to our destination. But back in the ’60s, this stuff was really progressive and, well—far out!

Today we are totally dependent on wireless communication. We are surrounded by WiFi signals, hotspots, radio frequencies, cellphone networks, WANs, MANs, and LANs, often bouncing off and interfering with each other, especially in crowded areas. And as if all that wasn’t enough, we also utilize PANs (personal area networks) such as Bluetooth, which delivers our music and phone calls directly to an earpiece. This is just perfect for screaming out our private conversations on elevators, in restroom stalls, at the gym, and while on public transportation, where we risk disturbing other riders attempting to blast music from their radio apps…^[4]

Perhaps Uhura’s eyesore of an earpiece wasn’t so bad after all.

6 Synthehol

While the crew of Kirk’s Enterprise seemed to enjoy genuine alcohol, Picard’s crew instead indulged in synthehol. The booze that Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) served in Ten-Forward had apparently been re-engineered so as not to cause hangovers, excessive intoxication, or illness, and it supposedly tasted similar to the original. Wouldn’t it be great if we had libations like that in real life? Perhaps we will very shortly…

A scientist in England named David Nutt has been trying to devise an alcohol substitute for years, and he may have found it. The formula, initially called alcosynth (a play on synthehol), has been renamed Alcarelle and is a synthetic substance that targets specific GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptors in the brain, much like alcohol but without the deleterious effects. Alcarelle consumption does not lead to hangovers, and long-term usage will not cause liver damage. The substance is currently in the development stage, and GABALabs plans to sell the finished product as an ingredient to companies that will market the actual drinks.

They are hoping Alcarelle products will be available in the UK by 2025, and hopefully, they’ll go over well in Scotland, where alcohol is both highly appreciated and consumed. But wasn’t it Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan) who once exclaimed, “What in blazes is this!” after his first taste of synthehol while visiting Picard’s Enterprise? The gang at GABALabs has noted that Alcarelle doesn’t really taste good and needs to be mixed with juice to be palatable. Good luck with that, guys.^[5]

5 Space Burial

When Starfleet officers die in the line of duty, they’re often placed inside a photon torpedo and jettisoned from the ship, where they will either burn up upon re-entry into a planet’s atmosphere or journey forever into the dark void of space. While in outer space, death is a concern that real astronauts will have to deal with someday as we begin to send manned missions farther and farther out into the unknown. Certainly, space burials will be the answer during long journeys to distant stars.

The very first space burial, interestingly enough, was that of Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, though it was basically honorary. Roddenberry died in 1991 of cardiac arrest, and the following year, a portion of his ashes were flown into space upon the shuttle Columbia, though they were returned to Earth with the ship.

Likewise, James Doohan really got around after his death. The character of Scotty had a huge following, and many people were inspired by him to pursue a career in engineering. In 2005, Doohan died at age 85, and two years later, a portion of his cremated ashes flew into space for four minutes on the SpaceLoft XL rocket. In 2008, however, his ashes left Earth twice, first in August on the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket, which failed to reach orbit, and secondly in October when entrepreneur Richard Garriott smuggled him aboard the International Space Station as a private citizen astronaut on a 12-day mission. The plan had been concocted by the actor’s son, Chris Doohan, who claims his father’s ashes are still aboard the ISS hidden under floor cladding. And a portion of Doohan’s remains went up in space again in 2012 on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket—successfully this time—for nine days.

And guess what? Yet another portion of Doohan’s ashes will be going up into space in 2022 on a Celestis Memorial Spaceflight—the maiden flight of the Voyager Service whose “passengers” will not be returning to Earth. This mission has been dubbed the “Enterprise Flight” because Doohan will be joined by the ashes of Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who played numerous roles such as Number One, Nurse Christine Chapel, and Lwaxana Troi and who died in 2008. These three icons of the Star Trek franchise, along with the ashes of others, will zip by the moon to get a fly-by, gravitational boost which will propel them out of the solar system and into the unknown depths of outer space where no human—nor human remains—have ever beforehand traversed…^[6]

4 Virtual Reality

Gene Dolgoff, the CEO of Holobeam Technologies Inc., has been an innovator in the science of holography and 3-D imaging since the early ’60s and was the inventor of holographic transfer printing for credit cards in 1971. One of the highlights of his career was meeting with Gene Roddenberry and his wife Majel in ’73 when he explained how holograms work and their potential for changing the future of entertainment and engineering. Roddenberry was fascinated with the concept of “matter holograms” and the possibility of entire rooms comprised of a “holographic environment,” a concept introduced just one year later on Star Trek: The Animated Series.

The Animated Series was probably the least popular of all the series considered canonical, and most people didn’t take it very seriously, then or now. For starters, they booted Chekov from the bridge; they added a feline character who looked as if she’d just beamed up from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon; plot lines were often pretty bizarre; and the animators frequently miscolored items, uniforms, and people. But in an episode of the short-lived second season called “The Practical Joker,” an area of the ship capable of employing holographic environments, simply called the recreation room, was introduced. After the series’ cancellation, however, the concept would not be further explored for thirteen years.

In September of 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered, and Picard’s Enterprise was still housing that holographic rec room when it did. However, it had been rechristened “the holodeck,” with entire episodes revolving around this unique form of off-duty personal entertainment. Of course, Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine rented out such units, called holosuites, for profit, but what else would a Ferengi do with such lucrative technology?

Just as a generation of astronauts at NASA grew up fascinated with Kirk’s Enterprise, the tech developers and engineers working with virtual reality today grew up watching Picard and his holodeck. Likewise, the direction VR is heading is directly inspired by the show. But how far along are we? Sure, we have virtual gaming and cockpit training, not to mention computer-generated engineering applications, vacation test runs, and house shopping. But how soon will we have holodecks in our homes just like the one on the Enterprise?

One of the biggest challenges is offering a full-sensory experience without the headset; in other words, rather than wearing our VR, the “holomatter” would be coming at us—at our naked eyes and ears, our noses and fingertips. And while many tech companies seem to indicate that we’re almost there, many more skeptics warn that we’ll never actually reach that level of virtual reality. The science behind some of the functions of the television holodeck is as hypothetical as time travel and seems to break the laws of physics, but let us remind ourselves that their version of the contraption originated on a Saturday morning cartoon. And do we truly want our virtual experiences to completely echo the ones on Star Trek, which could offer a reality much more pleasant and enticing than real life? We’d never want to come out of the darn thing!

Although…the guy who started all this, Gene Dolgoff, remains optimistic about the possibility of real-life holodecks. He even claims “matter holograms” could one day lead to transporter technology, which would reconstruct a holographic person replacing someone “transporting” from a different geographic location. And therein lies a ton of ethical questions and concerns, such as how to obliterate the original person being scanned, copied, and downloaded elsewhere. Moving along…^[7]

3 Star Trek References Exist Every-Freakin’-Where

Star Trek references, both obvious and subtle, have been inserted into the average American’s life since the vast popularity of The Original Series in syndication. They are part of our everyday vocabulary, imagery, and expression, often showing up in advertising and music, and thus they shape how we think, communicate, and navigate our lives.

There are many sayings from Star Trek that either originated on the show or were popularized by association, such as “landing party,” “class M planet,” “warp speed,” and “make it so.” And mention of “tribbles,” “transporters,” “the prime directive,” or “food replicators” is understood across generational borders. Likewise, words such as “stardate,” “redshirt,” “phaser,” and “tricorder” have entered our pop-cultural lexicon, along with phrases such as “Vulcan mind-meld,” “Alpha Quadrant,” “universal translator,” and, of course, “beam me up.” Star Trek has also lent us a couple of famous fill-in-the-blank lines: “I’m a doctor, not a ___!” and “where no ___ has gone before!”

Star Trek imagery also pervades our culture, with well-known visuals such as the arrangement of the bridge, and the cuts and colors of the uniforms within, being used to set up many a comedic TV sketch (think SNL and Family Guy, for starters). There are also shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Futurama with Star Trek references interwoven throughout most of their episodes. And all genres of popular music contain shout-outs to Trekkies with songs such as “99 Red Balloons” by Nena, “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Intergalactic” by The Beastie Boys, and “Beach House on the Moon” by Jimmy Buffett. The sound of the red-alert klaxon was used mischievously by Ariana Grande in her song “Problem,” and the band Information Society borrows the voice of Leonard Nimoy in their hit “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy).”

Possibly the very first Star Trek-inspired commercial aired in 1969 when a Vulcan dressed as a Klingon beamed down to show a bewildered mom the wonders of Cheer laundry detergent. From thereon out, Trek references have appeared in ads for everything from Samsung and MCI to Pizza Hut and Twizzlers. In 2012 an IKEA commercial borrowed an instrumental from “Amok Time” (The Original Series), and in 2016, Andorian aliens helped peddle Mexican avocados in a Super Bowl ad. This particular angle is widely popular in print, television, radio, and internet advertising. The Ferengis should be mighty proud that the fictional universe in which they live is very lucrative for making a buck in this one.^[8]

2 The United States Space Force

On December 20, 2019, President Donald Trump signed into effect the establishment of the United States Space Force, officiating a branch of the military which had been forming within the confines of the Air Force since the 1940s. And a month later, when he revealed the agency’s official seal, people were amazed that it looked very similar to the fictitious seal of Starfleet Command! The internet went abuzz with comparison pictures casting copycat shame, but the simple truth is the delta symbol (the arrowhead) has been used by the Air Force specifically for its early space program since 1961. It appears Star Trek did the actual borrowing of the delta symbol, but the USSF has also done a bit of borrowing…

Though the agency is new, it seems to be having a little fun with Trek-isms, much like NASA. The USSF has a department called the Space Operations Command, the acronym of which—SpOC—is purposely arranged to sound like “Spock.” They’ve also named their new tracking program “Kobayashi Maru” after a simulated training exercise James T. Kirk once outsmarted. But unlike NASA, whose scientists grew up watching Star Trek, the Space Force is made up of military officers, which makes a world of difference between the two agencies and how they will further develop and interact.

Many of the astronauts at NASA, an agency that has always taken a peaceful stance on space exploration, have been or are active military personnel, and the USSF is an actual branch of the Armed Forces straight through. While the starship Enterprise’s credo “to explore strange new worlds” and “to seek out new life and new civilizations” sure sounds like a peaceful endeavor, it was still armed with ship’s phasers and photon torpedoes, its crew likewise armed with phaser pistols. NASA and the USSF have already established a protocol for interactive exploration and security, as they’re literally soaring through each other’s turf, but is the notion of peaceable exploration while carrying an arsenal of kick-ass weaponry feasible for collaborative missions in the future? It seemed to work on TV.^[9]

Time will only tell if the eagle really can fly with the dove…

1 Where No Nonagenarian Has Gone Before

On October 13, 2021, William Shatner—at the age of 90—flew into space aboard Blue Origin’s pilotless New Shepard rocket with three other passengers: microbiologist Glen de Vries, entrepreneur Chris Boshuizen, and Audrey Powers, VP of flight ops at Blue Origin. They bounced around in zero-G for about three minutes before falling back to Earth and touching the ground at a gentle 2 mph. Upon emerging from the hatch, Shatner was embraced by Jeff Bezos, to whom the actor’s first words were, “It was so moving to me.” He followed by saying, “I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don’t want to lose it.”

Another interesting comment came from de Vries to reporters when he described Shatner’s trip to space as “the ultimate manifestation of science fiction becoming science.” Perhaps, as we watch our space technologies expand and flourish, this particular voyage will become the epitome of Star Trek’s influence on and relationship with our modern-day space programs, whether they be NASA, the USSF, or privately-funded endeavors. After all, Bezos has admitted that Star Trek was his inspiration for launching Blue Origin in the first place, and yes, Shatner flew for free on his monumental flight.

George Takei (who played Ensign Sulu) threw some rather critical shade, accusing Shatner of being an unfit guinea pig. But the most interesting observation Takei offered was: “He’s boldly going where other people have gone before.”

And he was right. Back in 1966, when Star Trek first aired, only a handful of people in the world had achieved the title of astronaut or cosmonaut, and only two countries had been represented in the process. In the 55 years that have ensued, we’ve sent men to the moon, built space shuttles, created the Int’l Space Station, and seen the rise of commercial space tourism. As of 2021, there have been 42 countries represented in space through the participation of approximately 600 astronauts (the exact number changes per count as the criteria for having achieved space altitude varies, and the roles of “astronaut” and “passenger” are often counted separately).

So yes, many other men, and women, have made it to space beforehand. But out of all those individuals who have blasted free from Earth’s atmosphere, Shatner, at 90, is the oldest, and kudos might be offered if only for that achievement. And how profound for William Shatner, who first explored space at the age of 35 as James T. Kirk, to have had the unique opportunity to explore it 55 years later in real life as himself.^[10]

There are few things more upsetting to fans than seeing their hero tragically cut down. Athletes the world over are larger than life during their playing days. Their talents transcend what we mere mortals can do. The memories they deliver to fans with on-field glory leave a lasting impact long after they’re gone. But athletes aren’t immortal. And they are also often interviewed in the media because of their public-facing jobs. Combine those two facts, and occasionally the craziest of fates come together.

In these ten cases, high-profile pro athletes and sports stars inadvertently called their own deaths before they ever happened. These accidental passing predictions are creepy in their accuracy. The legacy left behind by these sports stars makes their eerie deaths all that more unsettling. Now, we look back with wonder at how these stars were able to see their own future fates before they ever happened.

10 Pete Maravich

Unfortunately, Pete Maravich may have made the most accurate death prediction in all of history. The pro athlete was an NBA star in the 1970s. After a stellar college career, he had a long run playing with the Atlanta Hawks and the New Orleans Jazz. But he eventually walked away from the game in 1980. And well before that, during the height of his career, he eerily predicted his future untimely death in a newspaper interview.

Maravich was playing with the Hawks in 1974, and he wasn’t getting along with the fans. Ticket holders didn’t care for his brash style of play. Some even showed up to games in Atlanta with signs calling him a “hot dog” and other jeers. Quickly, the taunts ate at Maravich. That year, when the Beaver County Times asked him about the fans, the star shooter pondered his future. The sportswriter who interviewed Maravich, Andy Nuzzo, recalled how the NBA star was trying to explain how “he didn’t need basketball, that he could do something else.” But Pete’s actual words were far more specific. In turn, they would become downright chilling. “I don’t want to play 10 years in the NBA and die of a heart attack at age 40,” Maravich told Nuzzo during that 1974 interview.

For years, the sportswriter forgot about the quote. But then Maravich retired after the 1980 season, capping exactly a decade in the NBA. And eight years after that, in 1988, Maravich died of a heart attack. He was exactly 40 years old. When Nuzzo looked back on his interview with the deceased legend later that year, his jaw dropped. “That’s a little scary,” Nuzzo recalled after Pete’s 1988 passing. “The story was laying on my desk when I got to work. I read it and read it and read it and read it. I couldn’t believe it. Everything matched.”^[1]

9 Rowdy Roddy Piper

Rowdy Roddy Piper spent his life in the pro wrestling ring. He earned himself a loyal legion of fans during the long prime of his career. But years after the peak, he was still wrestling. While he should have been enjoying his post-career retirement in peace, Piper was duking it out. The physical toll on his body was severe. But financial issues kept him from being able to walk away for good. In 2003, television host Bryant Gumbel asked Piper about his endless career. Gumbel was shocked that the wrestling star hadn’t quit despite being nearly 50 years old. The pro wrestler explained he still needed to pay his bills. “What would you have me do at 49 when my pension plan I can’t take out until I’m 65?” Piper asked Gumbel. “I’m not gonna make 65. Let’s face facts.”

For a few years, the eerie quote seemed like it wouldn’t come true. Then, in 2006, Piper was diagnosed with cancer. Amazingly, he beat the disease the next year. He even returned to the wrestling ring. But he wasn’t long for the world, and his prediction to Gumbel about failing to make 65 would prove true. One night in July 2015, Piper died in his sleep. His death certificate cited cardiopulmonary arrest and hypertension as factors in his passing. He was just 61 years old.

Even worse, it seemed as though Piper knew his time was coming. Shortly before he died, he left a voicemail for fellow wrestler and longtime friend Hulk Hogan. Hogan only listened to the voicemail after learning of Piper’s death. When he finally heard it, the wrestler lamented how his longtime friend and peer was “walking with Jesus” after the seemingly prophetic phone call.^[2]

8 Florence Griffith-Joyner

Florence Griffith-Joyner was one of the best sprinters to ever live. The American woman flew through the 1980s and 1990s, burying pretty much everybody on the track. But far from glory, she had an eerie ability to predict the future. Early in her career, she married boyfriend Al Joyner a full year before they had planned. Her abrupt decision came after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck her native Los Angeles. Suddenly worried about the future, she urged Al to walk down the aisle early. “I don’t want to die without being married,” she told her shocked partner.

Years later, the woman who became known to the world as Flo-Jo continued her gift for premonition. One morning, she told Al about an unsettling dream. In it, she saw her husband crying but was unable to comfort him. “I was telling you I was all right, and everything was fine, but I couldn’t reach you,” she told Al. “But I was telling you everything was fine. I just couldn’t get to you. You should know this.”

Flo-Jo’s knack for knowing what was going to happen continued after she became a mother. As the couple’s daughter Mary was growing up. Flo-Jo would write letters to the girl. She would seal them in envelopes, give them to Al, and tell him to let her open them when she turned 16. Flo-Jo was beyond healthy at the time. She was a world-class athlete in peak physical condition. But through it all, she sensed something wasn’t right. One day, she confronted Al about Mary’s future. “I don’t want to leave Mary without a mother,” she told her shocked husband. “If something happens to me, I want you to get married again. You will get married again because I’ll be the one to send her to you.”

In 1998, Flo-Jo died of a seizure in her sleep. Doctors were puzzled at its cause. She seemed to be perfectly healthy. Eventually, medical examiners determined she had succumbed to an epileptic seizure. Still, there was no way to have predicted her untimely passing. Thus, it made Flo-Jo’s own past words to Al all the more prophetic.^[3]

7 James Hellwig, aka The Ultimate Warrior

James Hellwig became famous to millions of wrestling fans for his persona as the Ultimate Warrior. He drew so much love from fans that he actually changed his name to “Warrior” as a nod of appreciation. His career came with great highs. By the end of it all, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April 2014. The honor was the triumphant top mark of Hellwig’s long and bruising career. It should have been a coronation for the star as he lived out his days in glory. Sadly, a speech he gave just days after the Hall of Fame announcement ended up changing everything.

Warrior appeared on Monday Night RAW two days after the Hall of Fame reveal. Fans hurled praise at the star as he spoke about his life and legacy. He was clearly overcome with emotion while recounting his career in the ring. But then, he said something that turned out to be a hint about what was to come just a day later. “Every man’s heart one day beats its final beat, his lungs breathe their final breath,” Hellwig told his fans on RAW. “And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others, and makes them bleed deeper, than something larger than life, then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized by the storytellers, by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him and make the running the man did live forever.” Less than 24 hours later, Warrior was dead. A heart attack killed him at just 54 years old. Though far too young to die, his legacy in the WWE will live on forever. Because his final words were so darkly prophetic, their meaning remains too.^[4]

6 Guinn Williams Jr.

Guinn Williams Jr. ended up a movie star during Hollywood’s first golden age, but his route to the silver screen was a long one. The Texas-born star first fought in World War I as a teenager. When the war ended, he returned home for what he thought would be baseball stardom. His father wanted him to attend the U.S. Military Academy, but Junior had other ideas. “I told my father I’d sooner play baseball,” the future actor recalled later, “and I had an offer from the Chicago White Sox.” Guinn’s strong 6’2″ frame helped him star in semi-pro leagues for a while, but the big leagues never called.

Before he knew it, Guinn needed another job. The good-looking young man made his way out west. There, he became a Hollywood darling. He started getting typecast in Westerns and quickly carved out a niche. He even became good friends with Will Rogers. It was Rogers who gave Williams the nickname “Big Boy” because of his muscular farm-built frame. For the rest of his life, the name stuck.

Interestingly, Big Boy’s athletic career didn’t end when his baseball hopes faded. After becoming a Hollywood mainstay, the cowboy took up polo. He eventually became one of the best polo players in the world. The Texas State Historical Association even boasted he was once “the Babe Ruth of polo” on account of his powerful swings on horseback. Williams’ life changed in 1935, though. That year, Rogers died in a plane crash. Guinn lost his best friend, and for the rest of his life, he was never quite the same.

In early June 1962, Big Boy confessed to fellow actor Joel McCrea that he’d been seeing Rogers and the late star’s horse in his dreams. “The last three nights, I dreamed about Will Rogers,” Williams told McCrea. “He is riding Soapsuds, and he says, ‘come on, Big Boy, get on your horse and go with me!’ I don’t feel good, Joel. It’s like he was calling me.” McCrea didn’t think much of it at the time. But just days later, the premonition made sense. Williams died suddenly on June 6, 1962. His death was completely unexpected, and doctors were baffled. The official cause was uremic poisoning, but Big Boy’s eerily prophetic words to McCrea days before would live on forever.^[5]

5 Nicholas Mevoli

Freedivers are some of the sports world’s most extreme competitors. They aren’t really competing against other people, though. Their drive to win stems from an internal desire. Diving to lower and lower depths down in the ocean is said to bring incredible clarity. Using just a single breath to push as deep as possible gives freedivers an incredible connection to the Earth. With every dive, they thrust deeper and live more fully. There is a very fine line in trying to improve one’s dive numbers, though. Diving too deep and too quickly can be very taxing on the body. In the worst scenarios, it is deadly.

Nicholas Mevoli was once one of the best freedivers in the world. One peer called him “the most promising athlete in the United States.” Blessed with natural talent, trained with incredible lung capacity, and honing an innate curiosity about the depths, Mevoli transcended the sport. But he was also consumed by his desire for greatness. By 2013, Mevoli had broken nearly every American freediving record. His goal was to capture the last few marks he needed by the end of that year. In a blog posted in September 2013, he hinted that his passion had become an obsession. “Numbers infected my head like a virus, and the need to achieve became an obsession,” Mevoli wrote of his focus on reaching new depths. “Obsessions can kill.”

Sadly, in this case, they did. In November, Mevoli was freediving with a team in the Bahamas. He was exhausted after a long year chasing glory. Twice during his fateful dive, he considered turning back. But he kept pushing down to get his record. Sadly, he never made it. Mevoli died of an upper respiratory squeeze while attempting a 315-foot (96-meter) dive. He was just 32 years old. His unsettling blog from weeks before almost perfectly forecasted his fate.^[6]

6 Eamon McEneaney

Eamon McEneaney was one of the best athletes in college lacrosse history. He was a superstar in his years at Cornell University. Known as Cornell’s “Wild Irish Rose” by his beloved teammates, McEneaney was a three-time first-team All-American in the mid-1970s. Even better, he led the Big Red to three straight Ivy League titles and two national championships during that run too. His unforgettable college career was among the best amateur turns the sport has ever seen. For his on-field glory, he was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1993. Enshrined in the esteemed institution for eternity, his lacrosse exploits continue to live on.

After his college days ended, McEneaney moved to New York City. There, he became a successful stock trader at the World Trade Center. The building had been hit once by a terror attack orchestrated by Osama bin Laden in 1993. That scary event was on Eamon’s mind years later. On September 2, 2001, he was with his family at a barbecue. Out of the blue, Eamon started talking to friends about what he would do if the towers were hit by a terror attack once again. He debated how best to use emergency stairwells to reach safety.

Days later, he came up to his wife Bonnie at home while she was making dinner. “One night, I was cooking,” Bonnie recalled in an interview with ABC News. “He walked in and said, ‘You had better become more of a disciplinarian with the children because when I’m gone, it’s going to be hard.’” She was thrown by the fatalistic comment. It seemingly came out of nowhere. But less than a week later, on September 11, 2001, Eamon woke up and went to work as usual. Hours later, along with more than 3,000 other people, he died after the towers were struck by airplanes.^[7]

3 Dean Potter

BASE jumping is one of the scariest sports in the world. Even more dangerous than freediving, it is truly extreme. Those who take it up understand death is a serious possibility. In fact, it’s more likely to die in a BASE jumping accident than in nearly any other extreme sports endeavor. Still, those who enjoy it do so knowing full well the risks that come with it. The adrenaline they get from crazy cliff-diving falls is unmatched, though. BASE jumpers feel larger than life with each successive high-altitude jump. Even as fate stares them in the face with every fall, they push through.

So it went for Dean Potter during his life. Potter was one of America’s foremost BASE jumpers in the 2010s. He was well aware of the sport’s risks too. In May 2015, Potter posted a photo of himself and three fellow jumpers to his Facebook page. In the picture was another BASE jumping legend named Sean Leary. Leary had died in 2014, and Potter was still mourning his lost friend. “This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of civil disobedience,” Potter wrote along with the picture. “I sure miss my friend Sean Leary.” A week after publishing that post in honor of his dead friend, Dean also passed away.

But it wasn’t just the look back at Leary’s life that proved to be a premonition for Potter. A year before the Facebook post, Dean spoke to Outside TV about his love of BASE jumping. In the interview, Potter revealed how one of his earliest memories was of free-falling through the sky to his death. “When I was a little boy, my first memory was a flying dream,” he told the outlet. “In my dream, I flew, and I also fell. I always wondered as I got older if it was some premonition of me falling to my death.” On May 16, just nine days after honoring Leary, fate found Potter. He and fellow jumper Graham Hunt died in an accident while BASE jumping off Yosemite National Park’s Taft Point. Potter was just 43 years old.^[8]

2 Jack Trice

Jack Trice was the first Black college football player at Iowa State University. He made history with his pioneering role on the team, but it would come with a steep price: his life. On October 5, 1923, Trice was busy preparing for a game against the University of Minnesota. That night, alone in his room, he wrote a fateful letter about his life. “To whom it may concern,” he began the letter on the eve of his first big college football game. “The honor of my race, family, and self are at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will! My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about on the field tomorrow.” He wasn’t kidding about that. During the game against Minnesota, he was severely injured in a rough play. He would die from the terrible tackle two days later. The letter almost made it seem as though Trice knew of his shocking fate.

Trice may have been a pioneer at Iowa State, but elsewhere in the country, he was unwanted. On the same day he died, the University of Missouri sent a letter to Iowa State warning them about the two teams’ upcoming game. Missouri counseled Iowa State not to bring Trice down south, as “you know the conditions here.” To that end, historians have wondered whether Trice was intentionally injured against Minnesota. Why did he write that letter the night before the game, anyway? And why address it to “whom it may concern” rather than to himself as a diary entry or something similar?

In 2000, author Steven L. Jones published Football’s Fallen Hero: The Jack Trice Story. In the book, Jones claimed a witness on the field that day in 1923 saw something shocking. “I’ve talked to two people who had seen the play,” Jones reported. “One person told me nothing out of the ordinary happened. But another who saw it said it was murder.” Now, a hundred years later, it’s impossible to say what happened. But Trice’s ominous letter on the eve of that fateful game will always be a mystery.^[9]

1 Johnny Horton

Johnny Horton was good enough to play professional basketball in his early life. The future country crooner grew up shooting hoops as a kid. Even though he was from small-town Texas, coaches at higher levels noticed his talent. First, he spent two years at local junior colleges honing his craft. Then, Horton moved on to play basketball for major college programs. In the 1940s, he started at Baylor University and then at Seattle University. But pro basketball wasn’t big back then. So, Johnny gave up hoops for his other love: music.

Horton’s country career quickly took off in the 1950s. Music fans loved his Texas twang. He became an even bigger hit when he transitioned into the growing rockabilly genre. Songs like “The Battle of New Orleans” and “North to Alaska” kept listeners coming back for more. Fans flocked to his down-home sound as the 1950s wore on. But while Johnny was starring on stage, he had dark thoughts away from it. He would often tell friends he’d try to contact them from the afterlife. Pals tried to push away his dark thoughts, but he persisted.

In October 1960, Horton told a friend backstage at a show that he thought he’d one day be killed by a drunk driver. The friend dismissed the premonition, but Johnny didn’t. He even tried to back out of performing at another venue that month because he thought he’d be killed by a drunk driver on the way home. The rest of October passed without incident. But Johnny’s prognostication ended up being correct. On November 4, 1960, Horton was killed in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. He was just 35 years old.^[10]