Star Wars Turned a Controversial Fan Theory Into Canon
Dive into the legacy of Rex.
Because of the non-linear release of Star Wars (we started in the middle in 1977), it can be hard to merge various eras. The bridge between the prequels and the original trilogy is slowly being filled with TV shows like Rebels, The Bad Batch, and Andor, and Solo and Rogue One brought that transition to the big screen. But as much as new layers can be added, there’s not much that can truly change what’s already been released to make it more in line with what came after. (That is, leaving aside those pesky without a “Special edition” re-releases.)
But, in the past decade, one popular fan theory managed to place a beloved Clone Wars character at one of the most pivotal battles in Star Wars history; retroactively. And now, several years later, that fan theory seems to be confirmed, even if this retcon is probably detrimental to the story at large.
New art from the upcoming Star Wars book The Secrets of the Clone Troopers shows a new look at Clone Commander Rex as he appears in his later years. We got a glimpse of this era of his life in the Rebels Season 2 episode “The Lost Commanders.” In that episode, Rex appears with a snowy white beard, which fueled speculation he was present at the Battle of Endor as a similar-looking character is visible in Return of the Jedi.
It’s a fun theory, but there’s one big problem: it appears this mysterious character, identified as “Nik Sant” in a 2002 issue of Star Wars Fact File, is played by a white man. The role is uncredited, so we can’t refer to the actor himself, but he does appear to have lighter skin. Meanwhile, all clones are modeled off the appearance of Temuera Morrison, who traces his ancestry to the Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand.
While these two characters may bear a resemblance, associating the two may be whitewashing Captain Rex. It’s not a new controversy, but it’s more controversial with more recent additions to Star Wars canon. The Bad Batch introduced Omega, the female clone who, despite being genetically identical to the rest of the clones, has blond hair and arguably a fairer complexion. More credence added to the Nik Sant/Rex theory just doubles down on this issue.
Temuera Morrison’s Māori heritage is always front and center — he can often be found performing a haka in public appearances.
In 2016, at the Season 2 premiere of Rebels, Dave Filoni revealed he’s a believer in this theory. “I think the one thing I have really thought about is I really do think that Rex is that guy on Endor,” he said, according to SlashFilm. “I really do. Why else is there a bearded old guy on Endor, Tano? Why? It makes no sense.”
But what makes less sense is how a character could start off being a person of color and age into being white. Indigenous culture has always touched the story of the clones and especially Boba Fett — his series, The Book of Boba Fett, tackled colonialism and occupation using the Tusken Raiders, who are indigenous to Tatooine. Maybe Rex was at the Battle of Endor, but he doesn’t necessarily need to be the character we see in Return of the Jedi. That’s not worth sacrificing such a big part of what makes the clones who they are.
