[1][2][3] In 2010, Adult Swim released Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III which included a sketch where Binks, voiced by Ahmed Best himself, revealed that he was a Sith Lord throughout the six films, and had manipulated Palpatine himself.

The character's reception has changed as he has been championed by fans who had seen the prequels at the time of their release as children.

[7][a] Ahmed Best was cast based on his work in the production of Stomp, as Lucas wanted someone athletic for the role.

[8] During his audition he performed several martial arts moves and flips, which according to Best was a contrast to how Lucas pictured the character, more in line with comedic silent actors such as Buster Keaton.

He is nearly killed by a Trade Federation transport, only to be saved at the last minute by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson).

He later goes with the Jedi and Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) to the planet Tatooine, where he meets and befriends nine-year-old slave Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd).

Ten years after helping save his planet, he is a delegate to the Galactic Senate and, as such, plays a role in bringing two of his old friends, Obi-Wan and Anakin (Hayden Christensen), back to Coruscant, where he greets them with enthusiasm.

Later, on behalf of Naboo, he gives a speech to the assembled Senate in favor of granting Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) vast emergency powers.

[15] He is most prominently featured in Padmé Amidala's funeral procession at the end of the film, marching sadly behind her coffin alongside Boss Nass.

Jar Jar Binks is a supporting character in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, once again voiced by Best, although Phil LaMarr voiced the character in three season one episodes under the pseudonym BJ Hughes.

In this series, he is a Senate representative who sometimes accompanies the main characters—Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Anakin's padawan Ahsoka Tano—on their adventures.

Chuck Wendig's 2017 novel Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End, set after the events of Return of the Jedi, finds Binks as a street performer who entertains refugee children but is loathed by adults who blame him for his part in the rise of the Empire.

Binks appears as a playable character in the Lego Star Wars video games, and appears as an Angry Bird with a hook move called "Jar Jar Wings" in Angry Birds Star Wars II.

Gimme all ya got—but you’ll never make me change my mind.”[30][5] In April 2019, during the annual Star Wars Celebration event ahead of the 20th anniversary panel for The Phantom Menace, George Lucas named Jar Jar as his favorite Star Wars character.

[31][32] In an article for The Wall Street Journal, film critic Joe Morgenstern described the character as a "Rastafarian Stepin Fetchit on platform hoofs, crossed annoyingly with Butterfly McQueen.

"[33] Legal scholar Patricia J. Williams argued that many aspects of Jar Jar Binks' characterization were reminiscent of the blackface archetypes in minstrel shows, while academic Paul J. Ford suggested the character is a "laid-back clown character" which utilized stereotypes of Afro-Caribbean people.

In the first sketch, titled The Emperor's Back, Emperor Palpatine feels remorse for his actions and calls Binks, voiced by Ahmed Best himself, on the telephone, apologizing to him for manipulating him into granting Palpatine emergency powers in the senate during Attack of the Clones.

Binks pretends to accept this apology, feigning innocence, but after he hangs up he reveals that he was in fact a Sith Lord, named Darth Jar Jar, who only pretended to be manipulated by Palpatine and actually manipulated Palpatine himself.

Five years later, in late October 2015, a Reddit user by the name of "Lumpawarroo" (the name of Chewbacca's son) published a detailed theory speculating that Binks was originally written as a major antagonist of the series, a manipulative, prominent collaborator of Palpatine, before being written off from his major villain's role due to the character's negative reception.

[40] The post quickly became popular and received significant media coverage internationally by independent bloggers and major news outlets like The Guardian, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, which included analysis of his actions in The Phantom Menace and gave him the nickname of "Darth Jar Jar".

[41][42][43][44] Journalist Andrew Street from The Guardian called it a "classic twist", comparing it to Yoda's role in The Empire Strikes Back,[42] while Matt Hickey from Forbes went to the extent of contacting George Lucas about the question, but received no answer.

"[47] In 2019, when questioned about it, Best stated again only Lucas could answer, but he confirmed the theorists' idea of Jar Jar's antics being actually a disguised fighting style akin to drunken boxing, revealing that he based his performance on Jackie Chan's role in the 1978 film Drunken Master.

There was a big theater up there in San Rafael, and the company meeting turned out to be a little bit of conversation and then we got to see Stomp.

"[55][56] During the 20th anniversary of The Phantom Menace film, many members of the prequel production team have defended the character and appreciated the public's acceptance at the Star Wars Celebration panel.

Visual effects supervisor John Knoll reflected: "Well, I think it's good to see [his newfound popularity], because I think George took a lot of the criticism pretty harshly.

He also said, "I thought [the Star Wars Celebration panel] was great, especially the warm reaction there was to Ahmed.

[50] Digital model designer Jean Bolte cited Jar Jar Binks as one of her favorite characters to work with alongside Sebulba and Yoda, saying, "Going to Star Wars Celebration and seeing and hearing the fans so interested in which one was our contribution… It really completely changed my point of view about being privileged to have had anything to do with these films.".

[50][57][58] In an interview with Europa Press during the premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a journalist asked actress Felicity Jones who she would like to receive a gift from if she were in the Star Wars galaxy at Christmas time and she responded: "I think she would be very interested to receive a gift from Jar Jar Binks or C-3P0.