Was Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy really all bad? A glance at any fan discussion might lead you to conclude they’re crimes against humanity, but even the most committed Star Wars nut seems to agree there’s one indisputably good thing to emerge from the wreckage of The Rise of Skywalker, and we are of course talking about Matt the Radar Technician.
In January 2016, Adam Driver appeared on Saturday Night Live in a Star Wars-themed sketch parodying Undercover Boss. The premise was that Kylo Ren wanted to find out what the First Order staff on Starkiller Base actually thought of him, so he disguised himself as a dorky low-level tech guy.
Fans on r/StarWars can’t find fault with Matt, praising Adam Driver for being such a good sport, quoting lines from the sketch, and going so far as to say this five minutes scene is “better than the entire sequel trilogy”.
Matt has since gone on to be an in-joke for Star Wars fans. One reply says they saw someone cosplaying as Matt on Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser immersive experience, there have been many custom action figures and Funko Pops, while mods have conspired to put the cult hero into the game Star Wars Battlefront II.
Is Matt the Radar Technician really the best thing to come out of the sequel trilogy? Probably not, though he’s clearly the only thing in them that Star Wars fans won’t launch into bitter and passionate multi-page arguments about. Here’s hoping we get some more nods to him in other upcoming Star Wars media.