Ahmed Best’s new project is his story about Star Wars fandom
Ahmed Best is a gem of a person and it’s about time he finally gets some redemption. After the Prequel Trilogy came out, his character of Jar-Jar Binks was the main punching bag on the receiving end of fandom vitriol. It’s been well documented how this led to a downturn in Ahmed Best’s mental health leading to his contemplating suicide after years of racist hate and death threats.
And now it seems that Ahmed Best is ready to tell his side of things as ComicBook.com reports.
Sharing on his Twitter account, Ahmed Best posted an image of a computer screen with the words “UNTITLED ONE MAN SHOW” with the caption “I think it’s time for my version of how it all went down.”
It’s unknown at this time if this is going to be a novel, stage play, or show, but regardless, I’m incredibly excited about it.
As a prequel kid whose first big-screen Star Wars movie was The Phantom Menace, I’ve always had a soft spot for Jar-Jar Binks and Best’s work. It wasn’t something I embraced until I was older because of the hatred hurled at Prequel fans for decades. Now as the Prequels are being reevaluated, it has been such a joy to see Best getting his long-awaited embrace as well.
ComicBook.com talked about Best’s appearance at Star Wars Celebration a few years ago:
"“To be very honest, I was very afraid to go to Celebration,” Best said in 2019. “Every time I’m in a Star Wars setting, I spend most of my time defending our work and defending Jar Jar. And I just don’t want to do that anymore. So I was very reluctant to come to Celebration because of that, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t the case at all. I just felt nothing but love and respect and admiration for the work we did. I couldn’t have been more proud and I couldn’t have been happier. I wish George [Lucas] was there because I think we’re at a time right now where we have to stand in that work. We have to say, ‘We did it,’ and step into that in a very proud way, because it stands the test of time.”"
He again got his renaissance in Jedi Temple Challenge, a Legends of the Hidden Temple-like competition show set in the Star Wars universe. Here, he played Jedi Master Kelleran Beq AKA “The Sabered Hand” who guided the players through their trials. Jedi Temple Challenge is a pure, delightful show made for kids (though this 35-year-old lady loves it too). It was a big drive for Best, because kids were the only ones who enjoyed his work as Jar-Jar Binks. He stated in an interview:
"“One of the reasons I said yes to this show was that kids have always lifted me up,” Best said at the time. “They’ve always given me the feedback and the positivity that I always looked for. When I was Jar Jar, I would always get great responses from kids and I really wanted to, not just continue that, but give back to the kids. I wanted to give them something else, because Star Wars has since skewed older and there isn’t very much for the kids anymore in Star Wars. It’s very much for the millennials and gen-Xers like myself…so kids are kind of left out of these, and the kids have to go to the animated series in order to get their dose of Star Wars, or they do like Phantom Menace. Phantom Menace is very much a kids’ movie.”"
I adore we’re in the Ahmed Best renaissance. Sadly, it looks like Jedi Temple Challenge is canceled due to Covid as there hasn’t been word on a second season ever since the pandemic hit. But whatever this new project that Best is working on, I can’t wait to see it. He deserves the absolute world and, as his name says, Ahmed Best is the best.
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