If I ever made a Star Wars movie, you would not hear the end of it. It seems Gareth Edwards is cut from the same cloth, then, as the director hid a little Rogue One cameo in his latest flick, The Creator.
It has been seven years now since Gareth Edwards put his mark on the Star Wars franchise with Rogue One, but he’s still borrowing the best Star Wars characters to amplify his subsequent work. However, even if you’ve seen his new movie, The Creator, I wouldn’t blame you for missing this Easter egg.
In an interview with The Direct, Jay Cooper, the VFX supervisor on The Creator revealed how Edwards hid a nod to one of the best Star Wars droids, K-2SO, in the background of one of the most important scenes in the 2023 flick.
Cooper says: “We have an Easter egg of K-2SO in the movie as well. But you know, you’re gonna have to find that one on your own… It’s in there. I can circle it if I’m given the chance.”
Obviously, you want to know where this cameo is, and we have the answer. Remember the scene where Alphie is reunited with his mother, Maya, in the temple? Your attention was probably fixed on the incredibly emotional moment as Alphie (and Joshua) say farewell to Maya. But, Star Wars fans should have been looking beyond that.
“When they’re in the temple… [there is a] shot of the robots carved into the wood,” Cooper added. “That’s one that I was like, ‘oh, man, this is the coolest thing and no one’s gonna see it.'” I have to admit, this is not something I spotted the first time around. But, sure enough, K-2SO is there, immortalized in the world of The Creator as a significant part of the rise of AI in this fictional story.
It makes sense, too. K-2SO is a highly intelligent lifeform, and his personality is so humanlike, largely thanks to the excellent work done by Star Wars cast member, Alan Tudyk. With this in mind, it’s easy to imagine that K-2SO would have been part of that evolution process on the path to creating the simulants in the best science fiction movie of 2023.
It’s hard to get these kinds of Easter eggs right, with the line between needless fan service and meaningful homages a fine one to tread. Thankfully, I’d say Edwards and the team achieved the latter with this one. Whether the film as a whole manages to be original enough to stand out from the crowd as an epic sci-fi tale, I’m not entirely convinced, but it is a lot of fun and visually stunning. Check out our The Creator review for more on that.
If you really want a challenge, you should watch the Star Wars movies in order and see how many little clues, cameos, and cool Easter eggs you find across the saga. You’re likely to find plenty in upcoming Star Wars series like Andor season 2, too, and incidentally, that’s the next time you’ll see K-2SO on screen. There are also new Star Wars movies on the way, but you might want to escape that galaxy and think about The Marvels instead.