Taika Waititi, the seemingly universally-adored artist, forgot Padmé Amidala exists. Now, I know we’re used to Taika saying hilarious things because he is a wonderfully funny man, but it would appear this was a genuine mistake by the Thor: Love and Thunder director.
See the trailer for Thor: Love and Thunder here:
In a recent interview, the Our Flag Means Death actor explained he asked Natalie Portman to appear in his upcoming, untitled Star Wars film. To his surprise, the Oscar winner pointed out that she’s already been in the sci-fi series. Waititi then admitted that he “forgot” about the prequel movies.
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure many of us would like to forget the existence of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. However, when you’re currently working on a film in the franchise - and have previously acted in The Mandalorian - it’s expected that you be familiar enough with the franchise to remember three huge movies, especially when you have Padmé Amidala in them.
The queen-turned-senator of Naboo is one of the best characters in the Star Wars prequels, and an astounding female character in a universe overpopulated by males. Similarly to Princess Leia - her daughter - Padmé is an intelligent, strong, fiercely-willed leader who doesn't shy away from conflict. She fought on the frontlines in the resistance against the Trade Federation, brokered peace with the Gungans, and went on to help shape the Republic. (And accidentally put Palpatine in power but we don't talk about that.)
Despite this incredible resumé, the mighty Padmé Amidala was killed by... sadness. Sadness! The fearless former Queen of Naboo was written out of the Skywalker Saga with the meekest of whimpers. Argue all you want about how bad the sequels are (I quite like The Last Jedi), but what George Lucas did to Padmé was the biggest sin in Star Wars history, and that is saying something.
Perhaps Padmé’s woeful demise is part of the reason Mr. Waititi forgot about the prequel films. After all, they’re not exactly the best films, but it’s embarrassing - bordering on disrespectful - to tell Natalie Portman you forgot about her role as one of the Galaxy Far, Far Away’s finest heroes.
Mistakes happen, though, and I don’t see Taika Waititi as the type of person to say incendiary things for the sake of controversy. He’s a talented, skillful, and very funny human being, but forgetting about Padmé Amidala is unforgivable. Well, until he makes an amazing Star Wars movie and we all forget this ever happened.