Simon Pegg is the latest geeklebrity to the join The Clone Wars, Entertainment Weekly reports. The Shaun of the Dead and Star Trek star will voice bounty hunter Dengar, who you might remember from The Empire Strikes Back.
“Dengar is one of the elite,” Pegg tells EW. “If you’re on Darth Vader’s bounty hunter speed dial, you are the best in the galaxy.”
Dengar will teams up with Boba Fett, Bossk, and Asajj Ventress in this Friday’s ‘Bounty.’ Pegg, in reference to his outspoken criticism of the prequels, tweeted today:
Being Dengar doesn’t change the way I feel about the prequels but then the prequels couldn’t change the way I feel about the original three.
— Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) February 29, 2012
Any one else bothered by this choice? I seem to recall Pegg bashing Lucas pretty harshly about the Blu-ray changes last year. I guess his stuff was already recorded by then but I still don’t like this.
Oh, he’s been outspoken about the prequels/SEs for ages. I can recall some Spaced clips..
It doesn’t bother me. I think LFL is far more pragmatic about such things than the fandom is, and overall I think that’s a very good thing.
I guess it just irks me because in the real world (i.e. not Hollywood) if someone was to trash a company’s product the way he did, you can be sure they wouldn’t be getting a job with that company.
Honestly, I’m not bothered by the choice. If anything, I give props to Pegg for speaking out against the changes Lucas has made over the years, because I completely agree with him.
Simon Pegg should have played Tintin. Looks exactly like him
Just because Mr Pegg is a little anti Phantom Menace and changes to the films, doesn’t mean he isn’t a fan of the franchise.
Lesson learned: talk a lot of smack about the prequels, get to voice a character. Brilliant.
Simon Pegg never disappoints anywho.
Dengar = my favorite SW character. Because he is basically a mummy stormtrooper.
I’d rather they used the guy who voices Dengar on Robot Chicken.
I don’t see the problem with this. Guy speaks out (like fans do), company hires him because he has talent. It’s showing both forgiveness and business sense. And from what little I know of him, he’s a comedian with a public persona designed to rattle people. This is just a little more rattling.
Oh, Dunc, there is some choice drama surrounding this out there to sink your teeth into if you are so inclined.
Oh, I’m sure. But I don’t have the time to enable anyone’s victim complex today.
I could understand outrage over hiring the guy if he beat women or went on racist tirades. But really? Because he made a few cracks about the prequels? We’ve *all* made a few cracks about Star Wars, at one time or another. Heck, Liam Neeson told reporters that he didn’t even watch II and III.
I’m pretty sure that having an opinion about how the Prequels stack up to the OT is some kind of prerequisite to membership in this fandom. The fact that he’s enough of a fan to care about that is, to me, a good thing.
That’s what has people up in arms? I would have thought there’d be more angst over his connection to Star Trek as Scotty.
Personally I think he’ll be a great addition and I’m actually interested in ol’ bandage man for once. I’m wondering if I still have Tales of the Bounty Hunters around to go back and reread.
Bravo for LFL for not being narrowminded and Boo to fans who have lost their grip on the big picture.
Honestly, I’m kind of appalled at how people are reacting. The guy has an opinion. Not one I necessarily agree with (tbqh, TCW does the Prequels better than the movies themselves), but it doesn’t make him any less of a fan than someone who _does_ like the prequels. Heck, I’m an outspoken critic of many things that are apart of the series I like, so I kinda get where he’s coming from.
I’m not even sure what his opinion on ‘The Clone Wars’ is. If he hated even the show because of it’s prequel association-by-proxy, he probably would have turned it down on the spot.
And the people who are saying the show has “jumped the shark” now are overreacting, imho. Pegg’s doing a voice for _one_ episode. Not a recurring role for an entire season. Which is hardly worthy of being called a shark jump, but that’s just me.
Remember two years ago when he said he would like to write for Star Wars Underworld?
I have a theory they told him they were fine there but brought him onto Star Wars Detours. We’ll see I guess.
Of course no one has thought to ask when he recorded his bit. It was like a million years ago*
*approximate
Actually, my mistake. First comment was smart enough to recognize that.
I heard Pegg was doing this a while back, but agree it must have been done quite a few months back (haven’t they finished recording season 5’s scripts by now, in readiness for the animation?)
I contacted his agent yesterday to deafening silence, as think it would be useful to put his point across in a calm environment (and on a UK based site).
That said, highly doubt if he’s that bothered by the positive/negative reaction, as he’s a big enough geek name to float in and out of franchises as he pleases (MI, Trek, Dredd, Who, SW just off the top of my head).
Pegg not liking the PT isn’t what people are mad about. Everyone’s entitled to an opinion on everything.
What’s got a lot of people heated is that Simon Pegg, who has endlessly lambasted and berated the Prequels (and basically everything George has done post 1983) – is being REWARDED by Lucasfilm with a spot on The Clone Wars – a show based on the Prequel Trilogy. It makes Pegg look like a major hypocrite in their eyes. That’s what all this is about.