By Malice Intended

Ever since the first wave of Kenner action figures invaded store shelves nationwide, Star Wars fans have used them to act out their own takes on the galaxy far, far, away.  These stories would flesh out the origins of supporting characters and tie in seamlessly to the storylines and ideas established in the films.  The fantasy projects that take place in the collective imagination of Star Wars fandom usually take themselves deadly seriously and focus on only the most flamboyant personalities.  Outsider productions has decided to show just how limited that perspective is by conjuring up a Star Wars spin-off that would be infinitely more fun than anything previously thought of.

Blackstar Warrior is a trailer for an imaginary Star Wars movie that features Lando Calrissian as its protagonist and takes place between episodes IV and V.  It is accompanied by a series of documentaries that set up an intriguing back story: In the wake of the success of the original Star Wars, an enterprising African American businessman with an enthusiasm for film took out a loan against his string of car washes and set about making a Star Wars spin-off centered on a black character.  While that film was never completed, its central character would later make an appearance in The Empire Strikes Back.  Of course, none of this is true.  However, that doesn’t make the premise any less interesting.

The hilarious trailer not only makes the idea of a Lando spin-off seem credible, but provides a solid template for how one could have been made.  It sells the idea as an Austin Powers style spoof, albeit in a black exploitation setting.  Darth Vader is the villain of the piece, and the filmmakers do a good job of putting him in this humorous milieu and somehow retaining the sense of menace associated with the character (Much of which is due to the spot-on James Earl Jones impersonation done by the voice actor).   Female storm troopers wear armor that curiously shows off their bare stomachs, making them look like the Star Wars equivalent of back up dancers in a disco show.

Blackstar Warrior might never be made into an actual feature, but the mere existence of such an idea speaks to a couple of obvious but often unspoken truths.  A spin-off film set in the Star Wars universe need not take itself with solemn seriousness, and Black audiences are just as enamored with the Star Wars films (and by extension Science Fiction in general) as anyone else.  The release of the original Star Wars was a cultural event that brought many people of various racial and ethnic backgrounds together.  The trailer for Blackstar Warrior has managed to convey that idea in an unexpectedly funny way.

[pro-player width=’450′ height=’344′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NATeU-r0GDU[/pro-player]