Star Wars: Dog Goes Viral For Hilarious Reaction To Darth Vader, And Mark Hamill Approves

mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars A new Hope

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Star Wars is full of iconic elements. From lightsabers and The Force, to the infamous reveal of Luke Skywalker's parentage and beyond, there are moments in the franchise that will live with fans forever. Possibly the first of those iconic moments that captured imaginations at the very beginning was the introduction of one of the most memorable villains in film history, Darth Vader. He's introduced in the first few minutes of the first Star Wars movie and from the first he looks scary as hell. A viral video proves he even frightens dogs, and Mark Hamill is loving it.

A video has gone viral showing a man and his dog watching the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope, when Darth Vader first appears on screen. Whether it's the all black suit, or the John Williams score, something about the moment actually frightens the doggy, who jumps off the couch and peers out from behind it. And Mark Hamill wishes he'd thought of that.

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It's a pretty hilarious video and not an unsurprising reaction to seeing Darth Vader for the first time. There have probably been more than a few dogs and children that have reacted in exactly the same way over the last 40 years. It's unclear if the dog reacts this way all the time, which is why the owner decided to film it, or if it was just random. But either way the apprehension of the face of that dog is adorably clear.

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Darth Vader is simply one of the greatest, if not the greatest, movie villains of all-time. His look is menacing and more than a little wild, but considering the science fiction genre, the audience accepts it. While the John Williams score in this scene is great, it only gets scarier when the Imperial March debuts in The Empire Strikes Back.

Mark Hamill says he wishes he'd also hidden behind the couch when he first met Darth Vader. Although, I suppose, since Vader and Luke really first meet each other in The Empire Strikes Back, Vader probably would have just picked up the couch and thrown it at him. So that strategy probably wouldn't have worked out too well.

Darth Vader is such an iconic character we know we'll see him again in the galaxy far, far, away. Hayden Christensen is confirmed to return for the Obi-Wan series on Disney+, though it's unclear if we'll actually see Darth Vader or if he'll be playing some version of Anakin Skywalker. until we hear that James Earl Jones is coming back to provide the voice, we can't be sure Darth Vader will really return.

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.