Forget Space Balls, this forgotten Star Wars parody nails the worst thing about Luke Skywalker

The story

Thumb Wars isn't the best Star Wars satire, but it gets one thing brutally correct.

From the source

"A long time ago... If there were thumbs in space and they got mad at each other there would be... THUMB WARS."

Thus begins Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle , the 1999 Star Wars satire that time forgot. Released almost a decade after Spaceballs set the gold standard for sci-fi spoofery, this 30-minute short film from Steve Oedekerk (the director of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls ) tried to put a fresh spin on the iconic franchise. Nearly three decades later, with Spaceballs poised for a comeback , Thumb Wars is mostly forgotten. But this May 5, as Polygon celebrates the spoofs, satires, imitators, and copycats that Star Wars inspired, it's worth revisiting The Phantom Cuticle for the one thing it got right:

OK, before you scroll down and come for me in the comments, hear me out. In A New Hope , Mark Hamill plays Luke as a young man in arrested adolescence. When we first meet him, all Luke wants to do is hang out with friends at Tosche Station. It takes a major event like the Empire murdering his aunt and uncle in cold blood to shock Luke into action.

Who and what

Key names and topics in this story: Forget Space Balls, Star Wars, Luke Skywalker.

Where to follow next

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