27 Years Later, The Most Outlandish Star Wars Villain Has, Somehow, Returned
“Don’t count on it, Slime ball!”
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’s iconic podracing scene is still controversial to this day. For some fans, it’s a fun, epic tribute to cinematic classics like Ben-Hur; for others, it’s an annoying random side quest that stops the momentum of the movie. But like it or not, it’s one of the most recognizable scenes in the Skywalker Saga, and one that’s getting revived in the new video game, Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
But it’s not just the racing element that’s made the jump to this game: one of the most famous characters from the podracing scene has popped back up in it.
Sebulba raced against Anakin in The Phantom Menace.
If you remember any of Anakin’s opponents from the Boonta Eve Classic, you probably remember Sebulba. The Dugg taunted Ani before the race, prompting him to respond with the (apparently very offensive) slur “Sleemo.” Unlike many of the other competitors, Sebulba ultimately survived the race, though his racer was, as he put it, poodoo.
Sebulba gained a bit of a cult following afterwards, and has popped up now and again in minor appearances inside and outside of canon, like in comic books or audio adventures. But in Galactic Racer, Sebulba is back in a big way, serving as the boss for the first part of the game, a hub character in the middle, and finally a mentor for the protagonist. If you want to check this out for yourself, the single-player campaign is now available for Amazon Prime subscribers through Luna.
Sebulba as seen in the trailer for Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
“He always wins,” Watto says in The Phantom Menace, so he’s clearly a good guy to have on your side, and as the most prominent character from the scene, picking him makes sense. But this is yet another example of prequel-era nostalgia affecting Star Wars storytelling.
For some, that’s a great thing. At this point, many Star Wars fans grew up with the prequel trilogy already complete. But does that really mean that Anakin’s Dugg rival has to play a major role? It may not be as effective as a cameo in, say, The Mandalorian, but bringing Sebulba back in any fashion shows how The Phantom Menace, for all its sins, is still worth revisiting.
