Dark Matter Season 2 Includes A Cheeky Star Wars Reference To An Early A New Hope Draft
by Jeremy Mathai · /FilmAdd SlashFilm on Google:
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Warning: This article contains spoilers for "Dark Matter" Season 2, Episode 3, "Everything Beautiful, Everything Terrible."
There are existential questions, and then there's the whopper "Jason2" (Joel Edgerton) poses early in the third episode of "Dark Matter" Season 2: "If it can be done, should it be done?" In the context of this opening flashback scene, Jason Dessen (this world's version of him, at least) is meeting with a group of his old professors and grappling with what it would actually mean to see his project with Leighton Vance's (Dayo Okeniyi) box through to the end. In a more general sense, however, this perfectly tees up the rest of the episode's focus on the dangers that Jason, Leighton, Amanda Lucas (Alice Braga), and Blair Caplan (Amanda Brugel) have inadvertently unleashed with this newfound ability to travel the multiverse.
But not all of the various realities depicted in the Apple TV show are the worst case scenario — that would make for an awfully bleak viewing experience, after all. Some are as fascinating and nerdy as the "For All Mankind"-like connection drawn in last week's depiction of a less tech-advanced world, while others are as innocuous (and amusing) as it gets. Episode 3, titled "Everything Beautiful, Everything Terrible," makes room for a quick Easter egg that ought to grab the attention of "Star Wars" fans everywhere.
Ever wonder what it must be like to live in a parallel universe where George Lucas' original vision of "A New Hope" came to pass? "Dark Matter" finds a way to do exactly that, as an innocent date at a video store provides the perfect opportunity to tease one of the biggest what-ifs in cinema history. It all has to do with a little movie titled "The Last Strike: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller."
Dark Matter depicts a world where George Lucas made his original script for Star Wars
Those of a certain age may not immediately grasp why the Dessens' new world is as perfect as it gets (which both Jason and Jennifer Connelly's Daniela humorously tried explaining to their son in last week's episode). But for the rest of us? It's as simple as the nostalgia of seeing Jason's son Charlie (Oakes Fegley) wander through an old-school video store, bursting with VHS tapes and untold amounts of treasures just waiting to be discovered. No streaming services or digital screens in sight, folks, just people living in the moment.
One such gem proves to be a well-known piece of movie trivia. By now, it's common knowledge that George Lucas' first draft of "Star Wars" was radically different from the final product. But nobody has ever actually seen this version brought to life. Incredibly, the inhabitants of the world that the Dessens are currently calling home have no such limitations. While passing by several other cheeky references that only true film nerds would catch (including a copy of James Cameron's "Jurassic Park"), Charlie stops and picks out "The Last Strike: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller." For whatever reason, this world that never landed on the moon gave rise to the conditions that would lead to Lucas sticking with his initial instincts for what would eventually become 1977's "Star Wars."
The implications are nearly mind-boggling. Would this singular work of fiction have taken off the same way "Episode IV" did? Does Mark Hamill even end up portraying this much less child-friendly character (to say nothing of the rest of the cast)? Does the term "Glup Shitto" ever become a thing? We're dying to know. (And that's not even considering the meta question of whether the guy who eventually plays Uncle Owen might look suspiciously like Jason...)
New episodes of "Dark Matter" stream on Apple TV every Friday.