26 years afterStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menacewas first released, I’ve only just now realized the obvious connection to Superman in thisStar Warsmovie. AlthoughThe Phantom Menacecontinues to face backlash to this day, it was critically important toStar Warsmovies and TV shows.
In fact, this, along with the rest of the prequel trilogy movies, represents a key era intheStar Warstimeline—one that continues to shape the franchise more than two decades later. Yet, that importance just makes it all the more surprising thatI’ve been missing this Superman connection inThe Phantom Menacefor 26 years.
Padmé’s “Swap” Feels Just Like Superman’s Glasses
These Concepts Share A Common Logic
One of the key plot points inThe Phantom Menaceis Padmé Amidala swapping places withher handmaiden Sabé, who takes her place as Queen Amidala so that Padmé can go with Qui-Gon Jinn undercover. Although the two do share physical similarities (with Padmé played by Natalie Portman and Sabé played by Keira Knightley), there’s one key reason this works.
Namely,Padmé and her handmaidens use hair, makeup, and clothing to distract and trick those around them to pull off this switch-up. The ability to conceal and exchange identities in this way feels very much like Clark Kent/Superman’s use of glasses. That is, Clark Kent can hide his identity as Superman by donning a pair of glasses.
There’s Quite An Edge To TPM’s Padmé Swap
Padmé’s Trick Works For A Specific Reason
Many argue that Portman and Knightley simply look enough alike that this plan worked rather easily, butStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clonesand the Padmé trilogy of books revealed that it wasn’t only Sabé who was taking Padmé’s place. InAttack of the Clones, it’s Cordé who acts as Padmé's decoy and sadly dies for her.
This alone proves it goes beyond any handmaiden looking nearly identical to Padmé. On the contrary,this trick comes entirely down to the makeup, hair, and clothing, and therein lies the edge. At its core, this trick is heavily gendered. Yes, the Superman rule applies here, but Padmé and her handmaidens use tools associated with womanhood to pull this off.
It goes beyond any handmaiden looking nearly identical to Padmé.
In fact, it’s the Padmé books, written by E.K. Johnston, in particular—Queen’s Shadow,Queen’s Peril, andQueen’s Hope—that highlight how this was a gendered strategy. Padmé and the handmaidens themselves came up with this scheme, with even Padmé’s closest guards, such as Quarsh Panaka, duped by it.
Those books also reveal the careful and painstaking lengths that Padmé Amidala and her handmaidens went to in guaranteeing this plan would work. Padmé’s trick is therefore quite a bit more involved than Clark Kent’s, but it remains fascinating (and a bit funny) to realize thatStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menacehas this clear connection to Superman.
