‘LEGO Star Wars Rebuild the Galaxy’ Review

Nearly five years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrived in theaters, the franchise is still trying to rebuild the momentum that was lost by the divisive end to the Skywalker Saga. Between lackluster live-action series, and cancelling their most exciting High Republic era series, this era of Star Wars storytelling needs something to reignite the spark — and it has found that spark in the most unlikely of places.

LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest Star Wars stories (namely, LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation, LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, and LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special), bringing new life to fan-favorite characters from all eras, past and present, and poking fun at some of the goofiest aspects of the canon without demeaning anyone in the process. The four-episode miniseries is a breath of fresh air that gives wing to nonsensical plotlines like Darth Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) and Greedo (Jake Green) shooting his shot first to win Princess Leia’s (Shelby Young) hand in marriage, where the previous movies mostly reckoned with the end of the Skywalker Saga through more humorous means.

Written by the creative duo Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, who recently brought the world Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, and directed by Chris Buckley, who has a long and storied career with both LEGO and Star Wars, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy is a welcome balm for Star Wars fans both new and old.

What Is ‘LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy’ About?

Set in a remote corner of the galaxy, Rebuild the Galaxy focuses on Sig Greebling (Gaten Matarazzo) and his older brother Dev (Tony Revolori), a pair of ordinary nerf-herders who have their entire world, nay galaxy, turned upside down when Sig unearths the “cornerstone,” a powerful artifact hidden within a long-forgotten Jedi temple. While everything is out of sorts in the new galaxy that Sig finds himself in, he at least takes comfort in the fact that his friend (and crush) Yesi Scala (Marsai Martin) exists to help him conquer the bad guys and try to save not only his galaxy but every other version of the Star Wars universe out there.

As is the norm within the LEGO Star Wars universe, Sig knows all about everything that has ever taken place within the Star Wars canon, from Rey bringing a shirtless Ben Solo back into the light, to Darth Vader’s true identity, to Nubs being the cutest pint-sized Jedi in the galaxy. Before he finds himself thrust into a do-or-die adventure of his own, Sig relies upon these epic stories and grand myths to escape from his mundane existence, much to the chagrin of those around him. His storied knowledge of the Star Wars universe comes in handy when he falls into a twisted version of his world, in which Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are two of the surviving “good guys” in the Jedi Order, and Rey and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) are living their best lives as Sith baddies.

Rebuild the Galaxy embraces the most iconic elements of Star Wars storytelling as Sig finds himself under the sage tutelage of Jedi Bob (Bobby Moynihan), a staple of the early days of LEGO Star Wars minifigs, in a struggle against the dark side of the Force that has already claimed his brother, now known as Darth Devastator. It’s impressive that LEGO Star Wars has managed to tell some of the most Star Wars-y stories, and yet, time and time again, this corner of the franchise proves that it knows exactly how to take broken hearts and turn them into art. We don’t need a Star Wars version of What If…?, we simply need LEGO Star Wars to keep spinning twisted tales in brick form.

‘Rebuild the Galaxy’ Brings Back Beloved Star Wars Characters With a Twist

With the cancellation of The Acolyte last month, Star Wars fans have been reminiscing about how poorly the franchise treated many of its Sequel (and Prequel) era characters and cast members, including Ahmed Best’s Jar Jar Binks and Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico. Both return for Rebuild the Galaxy as Sith versions of their characters, and it feels like a sweet homage to both actors. Best had previously returned to the franchise for a small, but pivotal, role in The Mandalorian, while Tran has reprised Rose Tico in the LEGO-verse before, but here, it’s great to see their characters embrace the dark side and cause a little mayhem.

There are other extremely fun riffs on beloved characters, like “The Landolorian,” voiced by the one and only Billy Dee Williams; a beach bum chilled-out version of Luke Skywalker, voiced by Mark Hamill; a goody-two-shoes version of Darth Maul, voiced by Sam Witwer, opposite Ross Marquand returning as a bad boy version of Han Solo. In addition to creating a seemingly evil Grogu and turning sweet baby Nubs into a red-eyed menace, Rebuild the Galaxy also pays homage to recent live-action plotlines by outfitting all the imprisoned rebels in Narkina 5 uniforms; tragically, there was no “one way out” joke to be found.

On the surface, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy looks like pure comedic nonsense packaged into four twenty-five-minute episodes, but with each new episode, it’s clear that this series has the ethos of Star Wars storytelling built into every brick-sized piece. The stakes are impossibly high for Sig as he has to overcome his personal shortcomings and embrace his Force-given abilities, and just like every classic tale that has come before, this is a story about self-discovery, community, and finding the sun on the horizon after the darkest night. Don’t be deceived by the packaging this story comes in; the best things often come in unexpected designs.

All four episodes of LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy are streaming now on Disney+.

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