Whether you love it or hate it, The Phantom Menace remains one of the most talked about Star Wars films. Darth Maul is one of the most iconic Sith of all time, and the climactic fight soundtracked by Duel of the Fates is arguably the greatest lightsaber fight to date – unless you buy The Acolyte’s propaganda.
Though we believed that Maul and Palpatine were the reason behind the film’s kick-butt name, one TikToker might have found the real “Phantom Menace” – and he doesn’t show until Episode III.
We have to give it to @Jan_Short, they have some stellar eyes. Or maybe they aren’t alright, as TikToker @.might.have.adhd insinuates.
The original video features two cackling German men, watching through Revenge of the Sith. As Anakin and Obi-Wan duke it out on Mustafar, a perfectly timed pause shows the smiling face of an unknown man looming over Anakin’s shoulder.
And we mean perfectly paused, as @.might.have.adhd quickly finds. The user – who appropriately ponders how anyone could have possibly seen this shadow as one of the best bromances of all time falls apart on screen – quickly takes to her laptop to do some reconnaissance.
The face-off, which comes at around the 1-hour 58-minute mark, happens ridiculously fast. Maybe fighter jet pilots, formula 1 drivers, or an actual Jedi could clock the looming specter, but it’s simply too fast for mere mortals. @.might.have.adhd craftily takes multiple screen captures, what looks like 18 pictures per second, and discovers that the cameo lasts for just 2 frames!
The discovery is a wonderful little easter egg, and it left viewers speculating on who – or what – the mysterious presence was.
“Lol it’s someone from stunt rigging” claimed one commenter, dotting their reply with crying emojis, “helping him execute that flip!” Even training 7 weeks to master choreography didn’t magically give Hayden Christensen the power to actually flip over Ewan McGregor, but we doubt post-processing could make a blunder like that. Then again, there is that one set hand visible in The Mandalorian, season 2, so its entirely possible.
“Has to be somebody in post-production” a very reasonable person offered.
It’s a good guess, pranksters in the VFX department have been sneaking in cameos for years, even The Lion King had a hidden VFX treat in the stars. Artists meticulously comb through frame by frame, so the sighting is probably intentional. Still, I prefer some of the other theories. Like, “Looks like Dr Strange falling through the multiverse.”
Or, “It’s a force ghost.”
Still the very best guess, despite it popping up in the wrong film, “It’s him! The phantom menace.”
After all this time, we finally found him. And here I was, assuming it was the Sith.