Prequel References Were Cut From Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Maybe J.J. Abrams doesn't like The Phantom Menace...
You'd have to be a big piece of bantha poodoo to not realise the weight of pressure Star Wars Episode VII was under. Not only was it a film that had existed in fans minds since 1983, but it had to be realised with the spectre of George Lucas' lambasted (at points unfairly) prequel trilogy looming large.
But while The Force Awakens does endeavor to put Episodes I-III behind it (you could even read Kylo Ren as an attempt to do whiney Anakin Skywalker right), there are still plenty of prequel allusions in the film - there's podracers in amongst Unkar Plutt's junk on Jakku, Kylo Ren references a Clone Army and Ewan McGregor has a voice cameo. Heck, in the very first line Lor San Tekka alludes to "balance" in the Force, a concept first introduced in The Phantom Menace. The new Expanded Universe hasn't been shy about those films either, with Rebels bringing in loose elements from The Clone Wars and other tie-in media featuring battle droids and the like.
Oh, and then there's the flags outside Maz Kanata's castle, which eagle-eyed trailer-watchers spotted include signs belonging to the Mandolorians, as well as several podracers from the Boonta Eve Classic. That's canonising of the highest order.
Well, not quite. The Mandolorians have been part of Star Wars lore since The Empire Strikes Back novelisation, hinted at as part of Boba Fett's backstory, and while they weren't fully explored until Attack Of The Clones as backstory for Jango Fett, they had a bigger place in the universe. And all of those podracer references were cut from the final film.
That's right - it's not the only thing changed between the film's trailers and its release, but as pointed out by SlashFilm, there was a concerted effort to reduce the amount of prequel iconography in this scene (even if it's very much in the background). It's not hard to argue with this choice - there's enough allusions to the prequels (set fifty years previous) to make the world feel whole and having so many at this point negates the scale of Maz's operation - even if it's pretty remarkable how last minute it was.
There's an interesting point to be made here about how skewed things can be in the immediate bubble of release. After The Phantom Menace came out, some fans were convinced that Watto's Junkyard contained everything from a T-800 skeleton to Darth Vader's suit, which is all complete hokum (there is actually an EVA Pod from 2001: A Space Odyssey though). And after The Force Awakens' release, many took the disproven rumour Rey was left on Jakku with Lor San Tekka as fact.
Do you want to see more prequel references in the Sequel Trilogy going forward? Or was J.J. right to cut these flags? Or do you think it really doesn't matter? Let us know your take down in the comments.