Taika Waititi Reveals His Favorite Empire Strikes Back Line And Why It Resonates

Yoda in Empire Strikes Back

The future of Star Wars on the big screen is a big question mark at this point. We know movies are coming, but with the Skywalker Saga at its end, we don't really know what's coming next. However, we do know some of the people who will be involved in bringing those movies to screens. The newest member of the Star Wars family on the big screen is Taika Waititi. He'll be directing a new Star Wars film, you know, eventually.

Of course, this movie won't be Taika Waititi's first step into the galaxy far, far, away. He previously directed an episode of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, and in the newest episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, the director revealed his favorite moment in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. It's probably a moment a lot of fans love, a famous exchange between Luke Skywalker and Yoda. As Waititi describes it...

My favorite of all of the lines, definitely in that film, is when he’s trying to get the ship out of the swamp, and he can’t do it. And Yoda brings the ship all the way out, floats it over, and then puts it down, and Luke says ‘I don’t believe it.’ and Yoda says ’that’s why you fail.' It’s so good.

This is such a classic Star Wars moment that it's one of the many callbacks made in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It's such a great moment, not just in The Empire Strikes Back, but in all of Star Wars, that you probably now want to watch it again.

Taika Waititi explains that the entire training sequence in The Empire Strikes Back is something he didn't appreciate when he first saw it. There's a depth to all of it, and Yoda's statement, that a lack of belief is cause for failure, that you don't necessarily see when you're a kid watching a Star Wars movie for the first time. But then, later when you watch the scene again you see how Yoda's line actually says a great deal. Waititi continues...

When you go back to it, and you’re like, ‘There’s so many deep themes, especially in terms of spirituality.'

Today, the entire Star Wars franchise is being helmed by those that grew up with it and fell in love with it. It's impossible to know just how Taika Waititi's favorite parts of Star Wars will influence whatever film he creates, but it's basically impossible for them not to do so.

The next Star Wars movie is currently slated for release in December of 2022. Initially, the movie was going to be part of the deal signed by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, but they ended their deal with Lucasfilm. The 2022 movie is still on the schedule, but we now even less idea what that movie will be or who will make it.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.