The Boys season 4 has given a lot of attention to Simon Pegg’s character, but it also just added the punchline to a Simon Pegg joke 23 years in the making. Although Simon Pegg’s role in The Boys is more dramatic, the actor attends to appear in comedies, with him being considered to be one of the funniest actors working today. Because of this, The Boys season 4 just referenced a great Simon Pegg joke, calling back to one of his underrated TV shows.

The Boys season 4 is finally here, with the highly anticipated continuation of Amazon Prime Video’s critically acclaimed series now releasing on the streaming service. The Boys season 4 picks up right where The Boys season 3 ended, with the titular team attempting to stop Victoria Neuman from becoming Vice President of the United States while Butcher tries to kill Homelander in secret. Simon Pegg’s Hugh Sr. has played a big role in season 4, with episode 5 in particular giving the character a lot of screentime.

The Boys Season 4’s Jar Jar Binks Reference Is The Punchline To A 23-Yard-Old Joke From Spaced

The Boys Completely Flips Pegg’s Characters

The Boys season 4, episode 5 features Hughie, his mother, and Hugh Sr. reminiscing on the past, with them telling stories about Hughie’s childhood. At one point, Hugh Sr. tells a story about their family cat, revealing that it was named Jar Jar. This is a clear reference to the film Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, but it is also a more subtle reference to the Simon Pegg TV series Spaced.

Simon Pegg starred in Spaced from 1999-2001, with him playing comic book artist Tim Bisley. One iconic Spaced scene features Simon Pegg’s character yelling at a child for being a fan of The Phantom Menace, with him later arguing with his boss about the incident. Pegg’s character is in particular upset that someone could be a fan of Jar Jar Binks, which is now hilarious considering that Hughie named his cat after the character in The Boys.

Spaced Included An Even Better Joke About The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Couldn’t Catch A Break

While The Boys‘ reference to Spaced‘s Star Wars joke is great, it actually didn’t even reference the best one. The voice actor for Darth Maul, Peter Serafinowicz, actually appears in Spaced as a character named Duane. In one scene, the Darth Maul actor makes a Spaced joke out of one of his lines, with him quoting The Phantom Menace by saying “At last, I will emerge as the victor. At last, I will have… revenge” after an argument with another character.

Spaced included plenty of Star Wars jokes throughout its run, with this being the topic of many conversations when the show was being released in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It’s funny that these Spaced jokes are still being referenced today, with Simon Pegg’s Star Wars gag finally getting paid off in The Boys.