By Ryan Rigley
With the decades old rivalry between "Star Wars" fans and Trekkies, it's hard to imagine sci-fi nerds being okay with "Star Trek" director J. J. Abrams also helming the new "Star Wars" trilogy. However, according to "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, the two franchises may be more closely linked than you think. "'Star Trek' softened up the entertainment arena so that 'Star Wars' could come along and stand on its shoulders," explains Lucas in an interview for "Trek Nation." "The fanbase was primarily the 'Star Trek' fanbase, who understood science fiction, who understood visual science fiction, and was ready for something like ['Star Wars'] to be in the feature arena."
By the looks of it, the animosity between the two fan-bases has slowly subsided throughout the years. But perhaps Abrams' "Star Wars VII" will help mend the gap entirely! Clearly, there are still many questions left unanswered; chief among those questions being which memorable minor characters from the original "Star Wars" trilogy will be appearing in the new films? Take Muftak for instance, a Talz orphan who appears in the Mos Eisley Cantina during "A New Hope."
Who?
Born on the planet Alzoc III, Muftak was orphaned at an early age and left alone on Docking Bay 12 of the Mos Eisley spaceport. Growing up amongst the regulars of Chulman's Cantina, the young Talz would perform various odd jobs as a means of making a living. Muftak never knew his parents and, a result, never really knew where he came from. It also didn't help that he was the only Talz on the entire desert planet of Tatooine.
Eventually, Muftak would befriend a small Chadra-Fan female named Kabe and form an unlikely partnership with her. Known as pickpockets within the cantina community, Muftak would act as the muscle behind their outfit while his new friend Kabe would act as the brains. The two thieves would go on to steal some important data from a Rebel Alliance official being tortured at Jabba the Hutt's townhouse, being rewarded in 15,000 credits and two travel vouchers signed by Grand Moff Tarkin.
Why?
Muftak is one of those strange-looking alien creatures in the "Cantina scene" that you just simply feel the need to learn more about. I mean, he's got the body of a yeti, the claws of a werewolf, and the face of a giant spider. In fact, he was even nicknamed "Spider-Man" on the set of "A New Hope." While Muftak may not share any strong connections with either the Empire or the Rebellion, his transformation from lowly orphan to big-shot thief is a truly fascinating story.
How?
With the two travel vouchers given to them by Grand Moff Tarkin, Muftak and Kabe fly across the galaxy paying a visit to each of their respective homeworlds in order to learn a little bit more about their origins. That said, perhaps Luke and company could end up on Alzoc III at some point during the new trilogy and cross paths with Muftak and Kabe. Alternatively, in the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe, Muftak actually writes an autobiography entitled "Sands in Winter." So if Luke Skywalker doesn't make it to Alzoc III, for whatever reason, he could just as well be seen reading Muftak's autobiography.
