‘Force Awakens’ Star Simon Pegg Thinks The New ‘Star Wars’ Movies Are ‘Missing’ George Lucas

Simon Pegg is a renounced Star Wars prequels hater.

The Mission: Impossible star is notorious for his rant against The Phantom Menace on Spaced (“Jar Jar Binks makes the Ewoks look like… f*cking Shaft!”) and it was only a few short years ago when he summed up Episode I, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith with a succinct, “I hate the prequels.” He’s changed his George Lucas-hating tune since then, though. Following Ahmed Best’s comments that he considered killing himself following the public’s negative reaction to Jar Jar Binks, Pegg said, “I think most people were regarding Jar Jar Binks like he was a real creature. And wailing on him for being annoying… or not liking him. But there was a person behind that. And I read that and just thought, ‘I’m one of those people.’ It makes me feel awful.”

But at least the prequels (which will one day be considered “cool”) had one thing the new Star Wars movies don’t: George Lucas.

While appearing on The Adam Buxton Podcast, Pegg told his Hot Fuzz co-star that The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi are “missing” George Lucas’ imagination. “I must admit, watching the last Star Wars film, the overriding feeling I got when I came out was, ‘I miss George Lucas.’ For all the complaining that I’d done about him in the prequels, there was something amazing about his imagination. I do feel like his voice is missing from the current ones,” he said. Pegg then told a story about meeting Lucas.

“I sort of went to say ‘Hello!’ to him [at the Revenge of the Sith premiere]. He turned around and I saw the weariness in his eyes like, ‘Here’s another thirty-something fanboy who’s going to tell me how much I changed his life.’ He was talking to Ron Howard and I think he’d seen Shaun of the Dead ’cause he immediately went, ‘Oh hey, Shaun of the Dead!’ and shook my hand. And George Lucas immediately changed his demeanor.” (Via)

Pegg’s comments are especially interesting because he was in The Force Awakens, as junk boss Unkar Plutt. Maybe he’ll change his tune if Episode IX director J.J. Abrams gives him One. Quarter. Portion. of that sweet Jakku bread.