Even The Death Sticks Were CGI In Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones
When someone asks you, "Wanna buy some Death Sticks?" — just say no. Unless you're Obi-Wan Kenobi, in which case you can use a Jedi mind trick to convince the dealer that they don't want to sell you Death Sticks, and that they should instead go home and rethink their life.
It's a small throwaway moment in "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones," but Elan Sleazebaggano (as he's identified in the credits) has become one of those extremely minor "Star Wars" characters regarded with fondness by fans — like Porkins, Max Rebo, or Glup Shitto. "Everyone knows the 'Death Sticks Guy,'" declared the Death Sticks Guy himself, Matt Doran, in a recent interview with Empire magazine. "It's such a short scene, but it's amazing just how many people reacted to that one little tiny moment."
The moment is buried in the middle of an early chase scene through the underbelly of the city-planet Coruscant. Like much of "Attack of the Clones," the bulk of this sequence was filmed against a blue screen with minimal set elements. "It's frustrating a lot of the time," Ewan McGregor admitted in a 2002 interview with Star Wars Magazine, "because there's nothing there, and it's been much more so on this one. There's less and less here, which for an actor is not great."
When Obi-Wan disembarks from the speeder and follows his quarry into the Outlander Club, the practical set and throng of extras in alien make-up feel like a breath of fresh air. But there was no escaping George Lucas' enthusiasm for CGI, even in the smallest of details. Doran told Empire that the props department had made some real Death Sticks for him to hold, but Lucas chose to replace the one that Elan offers to Obi-Wan with a CGI version. Digital effects were also used to remove Doran's ears and to add a pair of antennapalps on top of his head.
So, did Elan Sleazebaggano ever rethink his life?
Accounts vary on what happened to the Death Sticks Guy after Obi-Wan's little mind trick. The entry on Elan Sleazebaggano in 2011's "Star Wars: Character Encyclopedia" states that he did, in fact, rethink his life, but soon drifted back into a life of crime. Perhaps this shows that the effects of Jedi mind tricks are shallow and short-lived. Or perhaps Elan simply reflected on his life peddling drugs to Coruscant clubbers and decided that he liked it just fine, thanks.
Other "Star Wars" supplementary materials disagree, declaring that Sleazebaggano stuck with his reformed ways. The comic "Star Wars Adventures" #25 features a panel where a character who resembles Sleazebaggano is seen cheerfully walking through Coruscant holding the hand of a small child — suggesting that he settled down, found himself a Mrs. Sleazebaggano, and started a Sleazebaggano family of his own.
The interest in the character among fans (a Reddit thread on the ethics of Obi-Wan brainwashing the Death Sticks Guy garnered more than 700 comments) speaks to just how intensely every corner of the "Star Wars" universe has been scrutinized — and monetized. Doran only has three lines in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," and he told Empire that "it took longer to get past the security gate [at the studio] than to shoot the scene." Nonetheless, Elan Sleazebaggano got his own action figure, complete with Death Sticks (real, not CGI) and a bar to lean on. Truly, he's living the Coruscant dream.
The Death Sticks themselves made a comeback in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." Look closely during the third act, and you'll see some of the Rebel soldiers on Scarif have Death Sticks tucked into the straps of their helmets, adding to the Vietnam War aesthetics of that movie. Repeated use of Death Sticks will drastically reduce the user's lifespan, but for the soldiers on Scarif, that wasn't really much of an issue.