George Lucas Made the “Maclunkey” Edit to Star Wars

Posted 2019/11/13 286 0


Disney+ finally made its debut last night, offering a vast array of Disney animated classics, Star Wars sagas, Marvel movies, and originals like The Mandalorian, and frankly, none of that comes even close to matching my fascination for “Maclunkey.” If you haven’t heard this joyous news, the streaming service’s version of Star Wars: A New Hope features yet another edit to the showdown between Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Greedo. This time, not only does Han not shoot first, but the green-skinned bounty hunter across the table exclaims “Maclunkey” right before he dies. It is, without exaggeration, the funniest goddamn thing I’ve ever seen in my life, and reportedly I have no one but George Lucas himself to thank.

According to Vanity Fair, MaclunkeyGate is not a wonky edit made specifically for Disney+, but a change Lucas made to the scene years ago, before Disney even purchased Lucasfilm in 2012. Lucas, of course, has been tinkering with his original Star Wars movies for what feels like forever now, and this makes the fourth version of the Han v. Greedo scene to hit the screen. George, you beautiful man, never change.

So with that mystery solved, the question becomes: What even is Maclunkey, besides a fantastic name for a band who only plays ska covers of Mos Eisley Cantina songs? (Dibs.) Writer Bryan Young might have cracked the case by diving back into Lucas’ Star Wars prequels, where he noticed dickhead podracer Sebulba appears to have spoken the line to Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) in The Phantom Menace. Translated from Sebulba’s Huttese, it means “This’ll be the end of you.”

For more on the early days of Disney+, here is our questions n’ theories piece on The Mandalorian premiere, plus a deep dive into whether the streaming service is worth the money.