Domnhall Gleeson Says Hux Was "Written For Laughs" In Ep8,Hopes Hux Will Be Comedic In Ep9

Hux has to be more serious in the next one. He's the only threat for Kylo Ren right now. If JJ wants to use Hux for comedy (I highly doubt that), then he shouldn't use Hux at all. This would be wasted character potential.

 

If he doesn't have any comedy in IX then it would seriously be inconsistent. I think he is a serious threat whether he's comedic or not. I mean, he was ready to kill Kylo when he seen Snoke dead and Kylo laying on the floor. So he can't be trusted. I had no problem with him in 8

 

General Hux should not be a comedic character just as General Tarkin was serious in ANH. You have this hilarious droid in BB8 they can use for comedy and decide to give it to the General of the First Order?

 

I think the Hux comedy parts only work when he is 'not in on the joke' i.e. where he plays it straight and not silly. Like the 'Do you think you got him?' moment with Kylo Ren on Crait. I hope JJ takes a more balanced approach to his character for IX.

 

Depicting the military chief of a dark and powerful order as a clown is a really strange idea.

BTW, it actually didn't work at all for me. I keep thinking to him as Star Wars Pulp Fiction's gimp. There is not a single scene where he isn't beaten, slapped, brutalized.

Ridiculous.

 

When he backhand slapped Finn it was one of the few times I laughed out loud during this movie. All his other comedy was total try hard.

 

Honestly, some people will do anything for money. I completely see what somebody said about it being inconsistent if the tone suddenly switched in IX for Hux but hopefully JJ will fund the right balance in tone and return Hux more in line with how he was in VII. Another one of RJ's misfires for me in TLJ.

 

Just because his statement disagrees with your worldview doesn't mean he's paid off. I don't know this line of thinking is so common, but it's silly.

I don't think Hux is much of a threat at all. Hux is simply a easily manipulated zealot. That's why it's so funny.

Tarkin is Tarkin and Hux is Hux. If you want to see Tarkin there's a few films you can see his character.

Everything doesn't have to be the same.

 

He was funny in VII. There was just more humor in VIII for him. I'd like to see him more like VII and the part that bothered me the most was when he was the butt of the joke.

 

I agree with this 100%. Hux isn't a goofy character. His biggest flaw is that he's not a force user and that weakness is taken advantage of by Snoke and Kylo, the latter especially. They use the force as a tool to exert their "superiority" over him and sure, it's played for laughs in the film, but I don't think it damages the credibility of the character. Maybe if you compare him to Tarkin it does but he's not Tarkin and the relationship that he and Kylo have is FAR different than the one Tarkin and Vader had. He's still a clear villain, I'd argue maybe one of the most clean cut villains Star Wars has ever had, there's not one ounce of good in him and there's really no confusion over what he wants.

 

Yes, Hux is no Tarkin. He's very much like Ren. He can be scary, but in the end he is like a child with toy soldiers and toy weapons. He was like that in VII He was never a threat to Ren.

 

I think this ship has sailed. It's too late to make Hux into Tarkin archetype. I honestly thought they were going to develop him in that mold (so we'd kind have a look of what a young officer in the Imperial/FO Navy looked like) but I think there's no un-ringing the bell with Hux. He's going to be humorous going forward. I actually thought they were going to go much darker with him in TLJ

 

It has nothing to do with wanting the OT part 2, it’s about using comedy through the villain and that can be jarring. Most movies who have Generals that are villains don’t use them as comedy relief unless it’s Spaceballs. This isn’t Stripes or Hogan’s Heroes, this is Star Wars. Villains should be menacing and I don’t think this comedic arc for Hux worked in TLJ.

And please stop this narrative that anything is different from the OT can’t be debated. RJ could have had Luke playing dominos for 2 hours on Ach-Tu and it would have been different and unexpected. But it wouldn’t have been good!

 

I don't understand what you're talking about here re: being paid off. I'm talking about Gleeson receiving the script, reading it and being happy to play an utter buffoon, in stark contrast to his previous portrayal of the character and seemingly overjoyed about doing more of the same. And yes, contracts, blah blah blah, but dignity costs more.

 

No one in this thread has said that. So you have nothing to worry about on that front.

There's no film rule about not using comedy with generals.

You don't like the story choice, that's fine... but let's not pretend some "film rules" were broken.

I stand corrected. You don't think think Disney is paying to say this quote, but you think he's only playing this "buffoon" part because he's getting paid. This is just another type of silly. Gleeson is a fine actor and Hux is great. I'm sorry you don't feel the same.

 

I think Gleeson plays the character very balanced: There's comedy, but there's also a darkness to this character that makes him unpredictable. Hux is not just a one-dimensional source of comic relief. I get why people who didn't like the humor choose to see him that way (in the end it all comes down to taste and opinion), but that doesn't do him justice: His role in the final confrontation makes it pretty clear that his future role is going to be the voice of reason to a completely unhinged Kylo Ren. And that last look he gives him is pure hatred - there's nothing funny about him in that scene.

 

I never mentioned specific film rules, I’m just saying that if you are going to make a General for comic relief, it better not lurch into Spaceballs territory.

 

Here it does feel like he fulfills the Tarkin role in the OT. Vader seemed to be more a zealot while Tarkin was cold and methodical; he was the rationale one. I think that's part of what I think I was hoping I'd seen Hux turn into... like getting a chance to see how a Tarkin could become a Tarkin. I think with people like Tarkin and Krennic (from Rogue One) you can feel the menace they present. They are utterly ruthless and think nothing of taking life in pursuit of their goals. And it felt like Hux was going to be our glimpse into how one turns into such a monster. His speech on SKB before seemed like he was right in alignment with them... it was a powerful and frightening speech because you could feel how much he burned with hatred for the Republic. It helps give context for the type of brainwashing the ST get (and why we should care beyond just good ole fashioned morals that Finn rejects it.)

But I do feel like Hux lost some of that menacing edge (in part because of the comedy moments) but also because of how Snoke physically abuses his top flag officer. On an aside, you could see why both Kylo and Hux are bullies themselves; Snoke really was a Dark Side bully to them.

 

Let's see. We have stormtroopers taken as children from their families. Hux is the leader of this program which from our understanding is superior to the clone troopers from the OT, but this leader is taken as a joke?
This whole trilogy is a joke. What was the point in telling this story? There are no stakes. The stormtroopers should receive the most sympathy from anyone in this trilogy, because they have been treated the worse, but they don't matter. If they don't matter. Nothing else matters. I feel more empathy for the troopers than anyone else in this trilogy.