Return of the Astro-Knight

""I am Gary Starrider and I am an Astro-Knight, like my father before me.""

- ―Captain Gary Starrider

Return of the Astro-Knight (also known as Space Wars: Chapter VIII – Return of the Astro-Knight) is a 2034 American adult animated epic science-fiction comedy film directed by Ethan Spaulding and written by Brandon Greene, who was also the co-producer and screenwriter. It is the fourth and final installment in the original Space Wars film series, the fourth film to be produced, and the eighth film in the "Starrider saga".

The film's setting and characters is primarily a parody of .

It takes place one year after The Wrath of the Empire. The film stars Jack Quaid, Zachary Quinto, Jerry O'Connell, Liliana Mumy, Coty Galloway, Ron Perlman, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin, Tara Strong, Steven Yeun, LeVar Burton, Ashly Burch, Ron Funches, Rick Moranis, David Tennant, Dee Bradley Baker, George Takei and Mark Hamill.

In the film, the Galactic Empire, under the direction of the Emperor, is constructing a second Death Ball in order to crush the Rebels of the Galaxy One Enterprise once and for all. Since the Emperor plans to personally oversee the final stages of its construction, the Rebel Fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Ball in order to prevent its completion and kill the Emperor, effectively bringing an end to his hold over the galaxy. Meanwhile, Captain Gary Starrider, now an Astro-Knight, struggles to bring his father Dark Slader back to the light side of the Source.

The film was released on Amazon Prime Video on May 26, 2034, seven years to the day of the release of the first film, receiving positive reviews, although many felt that it did not match the cinematic heights of its predecessors. Following the release of the film, two film series were produced: the prequel film series, which consists Chapter I – The Martian Menace (2039), Chapter II – Attack of the Troops (2042), Chapter III – The Civil Wars (2035), and Chapter IV – Revenge of the Smith (2048); and the sequel film series, which comprises The Source Awakens (2052), Evolution War (2054), The Last Astro-Knight (2056), and The Rise of Starrider (2057).

Plot
A year after Rex Korso's capture and Apollo's death, H.U.E. and R.O.V.E.R. are sent to crime lord Yabba the Butt's palace on Earth (which was taken over by Yabba and his men) in a trade bargain made by Captain Gary Starrider to rescue Rex and Pepper. Disguised as the bounty hunter Bough, Princess Gwen infiltrates the palace under the pretense of collecting the bounty on Karal and unfreezes Rex, but is caught and enslaved. Gary and Spark soon arrive to bargain for their friends' release, but Yabba drops them through a trapdoor to be eaten by a rancor. After Gary kills it, Yabba sentences him, Spark, Rex, Little Pollo, Necro, and Karal to death by being fed to the Salic, a deadly beast entombed in the Area 51 floor whose prey is digested over the course of a rebellion pod. Having hidden his new lightsaber inside R.O.V.E.R., Gary frees himself and his friends and crew, and they battle Azura, May, Tylly, and Yabba's men aboard the crime lord’s sail barge. During the chaos, Bodie Floyd falls into the Salic after Necro damages his jetpack with his sword, and Gwen strangles Yabba to death with her chains. The group destroy Yabba's sail barge and escape and Earth is free.

May is detained by the darktroopers and brought forth to Azura. Azura asks for the troopers to leave them alone. Tylly watches from the sidelines fearfully as Azura demands to know why May saved the escapees, knowing the consequences. May tells Azura she miscalculated, as she loves Necro more than she fears Azura. The two of them get in position to battle, but Tylly intervenes by blocking Azura's chi, much to May and Azura's surprise. Tylly and May try to escape but are quickly captured. Azura, being dragged up by the darktroopers, calls them fools and orders the troops to let them rot in prison so she will never have to see their faces again.

As the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance in the Galaxy One Enterprise, Gary returns to Menorah to complete his Astro-Knight training with Yoga, whom he discovers is dying. Yoga confirms that Dark Slader, once the Astro-Knight Captain Adrian Starrider, is Gary's father, and reveals that there is another Starrider, before vanishing and becoming one with the Force. Oberon Canary's Source ghost then tells Gary that Azura, who's real name is Rose Starrider, is his and Gwen's older cousin, and that she's the daughter of Gary's Uncle Kelly and Aunt Bella, and that he must face Slader again to finish his training and defeat the Empire.

The Crew learns that the Empire has been constructing a second Death Ball under the supervision of the Emperor. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Gary leads a strike team which includes Rex, Gwen, Little Pollo, Necro, Karal, Pepper, Joey, Mya, Aggie Gravel, and Wolf to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Ender; doing so will allow the Rebellion Enterprise to destroy the Death Ball. The team uses a stolen Imperial shuttle to arrive undetected, and encounters a tribe of Eqoks, gaining their trust after an initial conflict. Meanwhile, on the second Death Ball, Slader is keeping Apollo alive in a suspension tank and orders a silver colored imperial-bot to go to Ender and kill the Rebels as he turns to Apollo and says that his part is just beginning.

Meanwhile, May and Tylly break Apollo out of her healing chamber, but just as they are about to make their getaway, but they are stopped by Slader' right hand pushing them back into the room who saw the whole thing. Just then, a mechanical multi-eyed monster with robotic tentacles appears before them and grabs Apollo, strapping her into a chair. Slader explains that the creature is called The Core and that it is the combined intellect of the galaxy's 'greatest minds'. Slader further explains that studying the Emperor expanded their medical knowledge and studying the Shadowship allowed them to cheat death, thus creating the entity. The Core now desired a host which has to be the smartest, so it chose Apollo because as previously stated that Apollo killed Little Pollo's parents. Slader admits he always liked Apollo and sympathizes with him but The Emperor had chosen him as his bounty hunter and he had no control over it. Apollo struggles, but it's pointless as a helmet is placed on his head. May and Tylly watch in horror as Apollo screams in agony while V'Xer downloads its consciousness into her. V'Xer, now one with Apollo, forebodingly greets everyone and and Slader orders Apollo to head down to Ender to destroy the rebels.

Later, Gary revealed to Mya that Slader is his father and he can redeem him back to the light. Mya was upset and shocked in disbelief since Slader killed her mother during the Imperial invasion on Xemoitera and that he can't possibly be redeemed. Gary asks Mya to tell him about the death of her mother, as he thinks Mya might be taking her anger over the loss of her mother out on Slader. Mya informs Gary that the Imperial attacked their planet ten years prior, when Mya was eight. Upon spotting the black snowfall, the eight-year-old Mya went to look for her mother, Mary, at their home and found her being questioned by Slader. She is told by her mother to go outside and find her father. Slader glares at Mya, yelling at her to leave. Her mother comforts her, telling her everything will be all right. Mary runs out to get the Professor, but by the time they return, Slader has disappeared and Mary has been killed.

Meanwhile, preparing for departure to the second Death Ball, Slader tells Azura that Gary and Gwen are her little cousins and orders her to go to Ender to stop the Rebel crew. Azura begins to panic, claiming that she suggests burning down the planet, it is not fair and not to be treated like the rest of his forces. Her uncle explains that she has an important job to watch over the Empire and appoints her the new Smith Lord and Slader would be declared the new galactic Emperor. For her loyalty, she has been Azura eventually concedes that the title of "Dark Azura" "does seem appropriate". The Emperor subsequently declares himself the Solar King, the ruler of the galaxy, and he and Slader departs for the airship base. Later, Gary tells Gwen that she is his sister, Slader is their father, Azura is their cousin Rose, and that he must confront him. Surrendering to Imperial troops, he is brought before Slader, and fails to convince him to reject the dark side of the Source.

Slader takes Gary to meet the Emperor, who intends to turn him to the dark side, and reveals that his friends and the Rebel crew are headed into a trap. On Ender, the Enterprise crew are out numbered, but Apollo suddenly shows up, having made his way to Inner Space as well, and attacks Rex. The whole Team comes to stop him, but due to the core, Apollo is simply too strong and takes them all out and are captured by Imperial forces. Luckily, Aggie unleashes her full power on Apollo, and drives the core helmet out of him. With Apollo free, he saves them as a counterattack by the Eqoks allow the Rebels to infiltrate the shield generator. Though Apollo is naturally confused about what just happened, he embraces Rex and Little Pollo. Meanwhile, Lawrence Callaghan in the Enterprise and the Professor lead the rebel assault on the second Death Ball, finding its shield still active, and the Imperial fleet waiting for them.

Back on Ender, on the Imperial airship, Aggie knocks on the control room door and incapacitate the darktroopers. Apollo has an idea on how to get rid of the rest of the ship's crew and poses as the ship's captain on a loudspeaker, ordering all crew members to go to the bomb bay to celebrate a crew member's birthday. Coincidentally, it really is one crew member's birthday, who is overjoyed and pleasantly surprised, believing that the captain remembered his birthday. Apollo releases the platform underneath the bomb bay and all of the ship's crew fall screaming into the ocean; albeit, at a low enough altitude so that the entire crew survives with minimal injury to body and pride. Apollo. Spark and Azura confront Azura who has been leading an Imperial attack. Gwen warns Spark that Azura is trying to take them down separately, but Spark already knows this and senses there is something "off" about her, so he believes he can take her by himself. Spark and Azura begin their fight with intense sword/blaster battle.

The Emperor reveals to Gary that the Death Ball is fully operational and orders the firing of its superlaser, destroying a Rebel starship. He tempts Gary to give in to his anger. Gary attempts to attack him, but Slader intervenes and the two engage in a lightsaber duel. Slader senses that Gary has a sister and threatens to turn her to the dark side like he did with Azura, if he does not. Enraged, Gary defeats Slader, severing his prosthetic hand. The Emperor entreats Gary to kill Slader and take his place, but Gary refuses, declaring himself an Astro-Knight like his father before him. Furious, the Emperor tortures Luke with Source lightning.

Spark continues his duel with Azura as Gwen watches from the sidelines. Both of their attacks are fierce and unrestrained, setting fire to the forest surrounding them. Spark counters all of Azura's attacks skillfully before beginning to take the offensive and soon grounding her with a spinning kick. Spark taunts her for not using lightning, boasting that he will redirect it back at her. Infuriated, Azura prepares a lightning attack. Instead of sending it at Spark, however, she sees Gwen on the sidelines and sends the lightning at her. Seeing this, Spark crosses the lightning's path, shielding her from the bolt, and although he is successful enough to prevent instantly mortal injury, he is left critically wounded, leaving a large red and purple wound in his chest dangerously close to his heart, and incapable of fighting. Before Gwen can reach him, Azura begins to attack her little cousin furiously, laughing maniacally.

The Emperor taunts Gary for being weak and insults both the Rebellion and every alien race, saying such a weak race did not deserve to exist in his world. He tells Gary to prepare to die, as he tortures him with Source lightning.

Back on Eder, Azura relentlessly shoots fire and lightning at Gwen, driving her away. She proceeds to taunt her little cousin. Though Gwen finds a water bridge, Azura is too quick for her attacks and the Rebel princess is forced to flee from her immense flames. Eventually, she discovers a grate with water underneath and some chains nearby. Luring Azura above the grate, she blows up the dam and the water around them comes out just before Azura is able to release her attack at point-blank range, freezing them both in place. As Azura looks on helplessly, Gwen unfreezes the water around herself, swims around in the thawed water, and binds her older cousin's hands together to the grate with the chains. She melts the remaining water and runs to Spark to heal him. Azura sees Spark rise, still alive, and her brittle mind finally shatters completely; she bursts fire from her mouth wildly before rolling around on the ground, screaming and crying uncontrollably. Spark and Gwen silently look upon what has become of the once-mighty Azura with pity and take her to the Enterprise as a prisoner. Unwilling to let his son die, Slader betrays the Emperor and throws him down a reactor shaft to his death, but is mortally electrocuted in the process. At his father's last request, Gary removes Slader's mask, and the redeemed Adrian Starrider dies.

After the strike team destroys the shield generator, Lawrence leads the Enterprise into the Death Ball's core. While the Rebel fleet destroys the Imperial capital ship, the Executor, Lawrence and Joey destroy the Death Ball's main reactor and escape before the station explodes. Gary escapes in a shuttle with his father's body. On Ender, Gwen reveals to Rex and Pepper that Gary is her brother. Gary buries his father's body near Gary's old house on Earth and reunites with his friends on Ender. Joey and Mary find the Professor, who tells her daughter he is the proudest father in the world, and that her mother would be proud of them, too. Joey is distressed to see Tylly (who is released from prison along with May) dressed in uniform among the Sky City Warriors. Paranoid, he assumes she is disguising herself again until Pepper tells him Tylly officially joined. Tylly happily explains she bonded with the warriors in prison and after a few chi blocking lessons, she was allowed to join and be "best friends forever". Gary addresses the crowd that the Space Wars is now over as everyone cheers. Gary is now officially an Astro-Knight and declares the start of a new era of love and peace. As the Rebels and the galaxy celebrate the Empire's defeat, Gary sees the spirits of Yoga, Oberon, and Adrian watching over him.

Voice cast

 * Jack Quaid as Gary Starrider, the captain of the Rebellion Galaxy One Enterprise and one of the last living Astro-Knights, trained by Oberon Kanewbie and Yoga; Gwen's twin brother, Azura's younger cousin, Spark, Rex, and Apollo's friend and Dark Slader's son who is also Pepper's love interest.
 * Zachary Quinto as Spark, the science officer of the Enterprise who faces Azura along with Gwen.
 * Jerry O'Connell as Rex Korso, a General in the Enterprise; Gary and Spark's friend, Apollo's best friend, and Gwen's love interest.
 * Liliana Mumy as Gwen Organism, the former princess of the destroyed planet Alara, who is a leader of the Enterprise, Gary's twin sister, Azura's younger cousin, Pepper's best friend, and Han's love interest.
 * Coty Galloway as Apollo, a Lupian bounty hunter of the Enterprise, Little Pollo's deceased adoptive father, and Rex's deceased best friend until he was resurrected and possessed by V'Xer.
 * Ron Perlman as Necro, a Rebellion bounty of the Enterprise and former Imperial bounty hunter. His real name is Jason Quasar.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Dark Slader, a powerful Smith Lord, the Emperor's apprentice, and second-in-command of the Empire; Gary and Gwen's father, Azura's uncle, Stella's wife, and Kelly's younger brother. He is the secondary antagonist of the film.
 * Bruce Davison as Adrian Starrider
 * Mark Hamill as The Emperor, the founder and supreme ruler of the Galactic Empire, and Dark Slader's Smith master. He is the main antagonist of the film.
 * Grey Griffin as Azura, a Smith warrior in the Empire, Dark Slader's niece and Smith apprentice, Gary and Gwen's older cousin, and Kelly and Bella's father. Her real name is Rose Starrider.
 * LeVar Burton as Lawrence Callaghan, the former Administrator of Sky City who has become a General in the Enterprise and Rex and Apollo's old friend.
 * Tara Strong as Pepper, the Merlarian princess and a alliance officer who uses the pseudonym to board the Enterprise; Gwen's best friend and Gary's love interest.
 * Steven Yeun as Little Pollo, the adoptive son of Apollo, Rex, and Gwen and Gary's adoptive uncle.
 * Ashly Burch as Aggie Gravel, an extremely powerful, young Straalxuts, and Wolf's adoptive sister.
 * Ron Funches as Wolf, a big Tranzud with a canon for a hand and Aggie's adoptive brother.
 * David Tennant as H.U.E., a humanoid protocol robot in the service of the Enterprise and longtime companion of R.O.V.E.R..
 * Dee Bradley Baker as:
 * R.O.V.E.R., an astromech robot in the service of the Enterprise, loyal to Gary, and longtime companion of H.U.E..
 * Karal, a Sehlat who is Rex's longtime friend, co-pilot of the Enterprise, and part of the Spacefleet Rebellion.
 * Bodie Floyd, an Imperial bounty hunter
 * Darktroopers,the elite shock troops/space marines of the Empire.
 * Rick Moranis as Cordin Librax, the Empire's top admiral and commander of Slader's personal flagship.
 * George Takei as Yoga, a wise, centuries-old Astro-Knight Master of an elf-like alien species, who lives in exile on Menorah and trained Gary.
 * Zach Callison as Joey, a young adventurous Ikvean citizen of the planet Xemoitera, the Enterprise 's weapons officer, and Mary's love interest.
 * Kerry Williams as Mya, the Ikvean daughter of Mya and the Professor of the planet Xemoitera, navigator of the Enterprise, and Joey's love interest.
 * Greg Baldwin as Oberon Canary, the deceased Astro-Knight mentor of Gary, and of his father before him, who continues to guide Gary in his journey as a Source ghost.
 * Tom Kenny as Dr. Ham, an intelligent chimpanzee and the chief medical officer aboard the Enterprise.
 * Kenny also voices H.A.R.V., the artificial intelligence of the Enterprise.


 * Steve Blum as Quazky, a Terran Reptoid and computer officer of the Enterprise.
 * Cricket Leigh as May, an impassive, bored, stoic young noblewoman, Necro's love interest, and one of Slader's Imperial soldiers who, along with Tylly, is a friend and accomplice of Azura until she betrayed her.
 * Olivia Hack as Tylly, a cheerful, energetic, and somewhat of a valley girl who, along with May, accompanies her childhood friend Azura on her quest until she betrays her.
 * Bill Farmer as The Professor, an old Ikvean and inventor who is the father of Mya, the widow of Mary, and an old friend of Dark Slader.
 * Eric Bauza as:
 * Palo, an Eqok who distracts Scout troopers by hijacking a speeder bike. he is a parody of Paploo.
 * Winky W. Wyrick, an Ewok who befriends Leia and leads her and her friends to the Ewok tribe. He is a parody of Wicket W. Warrick.
 * The Eqoks, a one-eyed alien race who inhabit the forest moon of Ender and live in arboreal huts and other simple dwellings. They are a parody of the Ewoks.
 * Spacefleet pilot
 * Jim Cummings as Yabba the Butt, a powerful tentacled snail-like alien crime lord within the galaxy. He is a parody of Jabba the Hutt.
 * Tom Kane as Blip Fishtuna, The Twi'ble majordomo and chief aide of Yabba the Hutt and closest associate. He is a parody of Bib Fortuna.
 * Kane also played the Gamelan Guards.
 * Phil LaMarr as Nine Nub, an alien who co-pilots the Enterprise alongside Lawrence. He is a parody of Nien Nunb.
 * Keith Silverstein as Kelly Starrider, Gary and Gwen's deceased uncle, Bella's husband, and Azura's deceased father.
 * April Stewart as Bella Lares Starrider, Gary and Gwen's deceased aunt, Kelly's wife, and Azura's deceased mother.
 * Takayo Fischer as So and Sy, Azura's two elderly advisers.

Soundtrack
No. Title.......................................................................Music


 * 1) "Holding Out for a Hero"....................................Bonnie Tyler
 * 2) "You Shook Me All Night Long"....................................AC/DC
 * 3) "Welcome Back"....................................John Sebastian
 * 4) "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay"....................................Otis Redding
 * 5) "Starrider"....................................Foreigner
 * 6) "Moonage Daydream"....................................David Bowie
 * 7) "Father and Son"....................................Yusef/ Cat Stevens
 * 8) "You Give Love A Bad Name"....................................Bon Jovi
 * 9) "The Sound of Silence"....................................Simon & Garfunkel
 * 10) "Heroes"....................................David Bowie

Score
No. Title.......................................................................Music


 * 1) "Space Wars (Main Title)"....................................Alexander Courage, Gerald Fried, Bob Karlan
 * 2) "The Desert of Metropolis"....................................Vince DiCola, Kenny Meriedeth
 * 3) "The Emperor Arrives"....................................Alan Menkan
 * 4) "The Final Battle Begins"....................................Tyler Bates
 * 5) "The Death of Dark Slader"....................................Vince DiCola
 * 6) "The Final Flight"....................................Dennis McCarthy
 * 7) "Closing Credits"....................................Leonard Rosenman, Jeff Russo

Production
As with the previous film, Greene personally financed Return of the Astro-Knight. Greene also chose not to direct Return of the Astro-Knight himself and wrote and produced the film instead, and started searching for a director. Although Greene's first choice was George Lucas, but Lucas declined because he doesn't want to direct parodies of his  films. Greene approached Justin Lin, who directed Star Trek Beyond (2016) to helm Return of the Astro-Knight, but Lin declined. David Cronenberg was also offered the chance to direct, but he declined the offer. Greene eventually chose Ethan Spaulding. Greene may have directed some of the second unit work personally as the shooting threatened to go over schedule; this is a function Greene had willingly performed on previous occasions when he had only officially been producing a film. Greene did operate the B camera on the set a few times. Greene himself has admitted to being on the set frequently because of Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects. Greene praised Marquand as a "very nice person who worked well with actors". Olan Rogers did note that Greene kept a conspicuous presence on set, joking, "It is rather like trying to direct King Lear – with Shakespeare in the next room!"

In the original story for the film, Apollo wasn't going to appear (only in flashbacks), but Apollo's voice actor Coty Galloway didn't like it, so Greene made Apollo appear in the film and resurrected in the third act, bring him back in the team.

Release
The film was released on December 25, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video by Paramount Pictures.

Critical Response
According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of critics have given the film a positive review with an average rating of 7.25/10, based on 95 reviews from critics. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors, Return of the Astro-Knight remains an entertaining sci-fi comedy adventure and a fitting end to the film series." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100 based on 24 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

In 2034, film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film four stars out of four, calling it "a complete entertainment, a feast for the eyes and a delight for the fancy. It's a little amazing how Lucas and his associates keep topping themselves." Peter Travers of the longtime Rolling Stone also gave the film four stars out of four and wrote, "From the moment that the familiar Star Wars parody words begin to crawl up the screen, Return of the Astro-Knight is a childlike delight. It's the best video game around. And for the professional moviegoers, it is particularly enjoyable to watch every facet of filmmaking at its best." Andy Sarris called the film "a visual treat throughout," but thought that "Quaid is not enough of a dramatic actor to carry the plot load here" and Olan Rogers called it "the BEST way to end a four-part film series.

Sequels, prequels, and adaptations
Main articles: Space Wars franchise, Space Wars prequel film series, A New Frontier (film), and Space Wars sequel film series

5 years after the release of Return of the Astro-Knight, Greene wrote and directed the prequel film series, consisting of the films Chapter I – The Martian Menace, Chapter II – Attack of the Troops, Chapter III – The Civil Wars, and Chapter IV – Revenge of the Smith. The films chronicle the history between Oberon Canary and Adrian Starrider, and Starrider's fall to the darkside and transformation into Dark Slader. Though the films polarized critics and fans on their release for the storylines and some new characters, they soon have a softer spot and opinions for them as time went on. Retrospectives have highlighted that those for whom the prequels were their first Space Wars experience were more positive about the films than those who grew up on the original film series.

2 years later, a live-action film based on the first installment of the Space Wars original film series titled "A New Frontier" was released in theaters directed by Michael Bay. The film was universally panned by critics and fans alike, and was a box office bomb. Another 2 years later, Amazon Prime developed a sequel film series, consisting of The Source Awakens, Evolution War, The Last Astro-Knight, and The Rise of Starrider. The sequel film series was generally well received by critics, but received incredibly polarizing responses by fans, and reactions to The Rise of Starrider, as the conclusion to the Starrider narrative, were typically negative and derisive. Original film series voice cast including Quinto, Galloway, and Perlman reprised their roles with the exception of Quaid, Connell, and Mumy who are replaced by William Shatner, Kurt Russell, and Sigourney Weaver as Gary, Rex, and Gwen respectivly, alongside new characters voiced by James McAvoy, Janet Varney, Donald Glover, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and David Faustino. Standalone short films were released, including Episode of Apollo (2053) and Episode of Celfhea (2055), and web series like The Lupian (2059), that depict adventures set in-between the main film series story arcs.

Trivia

 * The film is a parody of  (1983).
 * The scenes where Rex, Karal, Apollo, Little Pollo, Necro, Pepper, Aggie, Wolf, and Mary are stopping the imperial ships from destroying the forest of Ender is similar to the scene where Sokka, Toph, and Suki are stopping the fire nation ships from destroying the Earth Kingdom in the ' episode "'".
 * Gwen's clothing when she was Yabba's slave resembles Princess Leia's slave outfit from Return of the Jedi.
 * The scene where Apollo is brainwashed with a helmet is similar to Marcy Wu in Amphibia in the episode "".
 * Adrian's spirit, seen at the end of the film was replaced by a younger Adrian in the 2050 re-release.
 * Not counting prequels, midquels, or spinoffs, Space Wars (2027) is the fourth theatrically released animated film franchise to have at least four installments, after Shrek (2001), Ice Age (2002), Toy Story (1995), Hotel Transylvania (2012), The Lion King (1994), Cars (2006), Despicable Me (2010), Stuart Little (1999), The Rugrats Movie (1998), Madagascar (2005), Kung Fu Panda (2008), How To Train Your Dragon (2010) and Trolls (2016).
 * The 15th theatrically released final installment of a computer-animated franchise after Shrek Forever After (2010), Madagascar 3: Europa's Most Wanted (2012), Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), Cars 3 (2017), How to Train Your Dragon 3 (2019), Toy Story 4 (2019), Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2022), Finding Marlin (2025), The Lego Movie 3 (2026), Mulan 3 (2026), Stuart Little 4 (2026), The Croods: The Modren Era (2027),  Sing 3 (2028) and The Nut Job 3 (2029).''
 * The fourth theatrically released animated quadriquel after Shrek Forever After (2010), Ice Age: Continental Dirft (2012), Toy Story 4 (2019), Hotel Transylvania; Transformania (2022), The Lion King 4 (2025), Cars 4 (2026), Despicable Me 4 (2026), Stuart Little 4 (2026), Rugrats (2027), Madagascar: Ghost Riders (2028), Kung Fu Panda 4 (2029), How to Train Your Dragon 4 (2030) and Trolls 4 (2032).