One imagines that when Robert Oppenheimer looked at the first successful atomic bomb test, it was with the same concern and implacability that George Lucas had looking at Baby Yoda. “Now I am become Death, Creator of Puppets.” Jon Favreau posted a shakey photo of Lucas meeting the Child on Twitter Thursday night, although whether George found the puppet as heartbreaking as Werner Herzog did is not known. Also unknown is the context in which this photo was taken. One can see director chairs in the background, behind the epic meeting. And I think there’s a starship window behind that? The foreground of the photo is almost as enigmatic as the background. Lucas and the BB look at each other; the viewer is denied entry to whatever secrets they’re sharing in that moment. What prompted George Lucas to visit the set of The Mandalorian season 2? (If that’s even where the photo was taken.) Lucas has been ambivalent at best about Disney’s tinkering with his brain babies. In 2015, he said selling Star Wars to Disney was like giving his IP to “white slavers.” And at the opening of Disneyland’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Lucas looked like he was only there because Bob Iger was holding his family hostage. Here’s hoping a friendship with Baby Yoda is George’s first step to healing.
