Everyone loves a crossover, but this might be the wildest one yet — and it’s bringing together two universes that no one would expect: Star Wars and the NFL. No, we’re not talking about eagerly anticipated movie trailers during the Super Bowl, we’re talking something much more specific and some of your favorite NFL players are going to be hoping that the Force is with them. Starting on October 26th, Darth Vader will be headed to SportsCenter+ to interview an NFL player participating in that night’s Monday Night Football game.
According to ESPN, the presentation will feature an animated Darth Vader doing the interview. No other specific details about how the player will be chosen for their sit down with the Sith lord. It’s also not the only Star Wars crossover coming to the NFL this month. Starting on Tuesday, October 20th, SportsCenter+ will also feature Star Wars “Hyperspace Highlights” which will present plays from Monday Night Football with a Star Wars visual theme.
There’s something wild about the idea of Darth Vader interviewing NFL players — some football fans on social media have already been joking about the dry things Vader could say to players, including “I find your lack of game disturbing,” but this also isn’t the wildest thing that is happening between the NFL and Star Wars. It was also announced on Monday that the Super Bowl is headed to the galaxy far, far away — sort of. While Super Bowl LXI is still taking place at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area on February 14th next year, it will also be taking place in the Star Wars Universe as well.
A real-time, animated telecast of the Big Game, Star Wars Funday Football, will air across Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and the ESPN App on Sunday, February 14th. Anthony Daniels, the original C-3PO actor, will be returning to voice the beloved character. The animated telecast is set to recreate every play of the game in real time by transforming the players into animated avatars with Star Wars characters subbing in at key moments. There will also be other Star Wars Easter eggs throughout the game. And this is apparently just the beginning. ESPN notes that more details about the Star Wars presentation will be announced — including characters. The only real question we have at this point is will we be seeing The Mandalorian as a quarterback? Will one team be Jedi and the other team Sith? We have so many questions. What is particularly interesting about this is we’ve already seen a little bit of an NFL crossover with Star Wars this year, thanks to a unique merch drop. Disney gave each of the NFL teams their own Disney character crossover — and the Las Vegas Raiders got none other than Darth Vader.
Darth Vader’s NFL interviews will kick off on October 26th on SportsCenter+. Are you excited to see him ask some tough questions of your favorite NFL players? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.