Star Wars: Michael Jackson wanted to play Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace but George Lucas didn't let him

Things could have been so much worse

Jar Jar Binks as seen in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (Lucasfilm/20th Century Fox)

It may be difficult to comprehend but Star Wars: The Phantom Menace could have actually have been much worse.

As anyone who has seen the much despised prequel will tell you, Jar Jar Binks was defiantly the worst part of that film. Complex went as far as to name him the “most annoying movie character of all time”. Could the character have been more grating on a Star Wars fan's soul?

In an interview with Vice, Ahmed Best, the actor who portrayed the lanky CGI Gungan, revealed that Pop King Michael Jackson originally wanted the role, and he wanted to do it in prosthetics reminiscent of his ‘Thriller’ music video.

“Michael was like, "Oh. OK." I thought, What is going on? After Michael had driven off, we all go back up to a big afterparty. I'm having a drink with George and I said, "Why did you introduce me as Jar Jar?" He said, "Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like 'Thriller.'" George wanted to do it in CGI. My guess is ultimately Michael Jackson would have been bigger than the movie, and I don't think he wanted that.”

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

Perhaps that film would have been something like this:

The actor also denied he’d be reprising the role in The Force Awakens after director JJ Abrams said he was going to kill off the character unceremoniously in the new film.