Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars saga and a major character in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

Upon the movie’s release, he was met with an overwhelmingly negative reception from both critics and audiences, and is today considered one of the most hated characters in not just Star Wars, but the history of film overall.

George Lucas was inspired to develop Jar Jar based on the Disney character Goofy, and has repeatedly defended the character in interviews.

However, in a reconciliatory mood at a recent interview backstage at Comic-Con, Lucas finally admitted some of the mistakes he made.

“Being honest, I thought the character would appeal to kids. After the first movie came out, we wrote him out as fast as we could.”

While the brief comments may not be enough for some, it may provide some rest for other fans who have been haunted by the character for the past two decades.

Lucas also put an end to rumours that Jar Jar would have a cameo as a famous pod racer in an upcoming Star Wars anthology film.

“We have no plans to include Jar Jar Binks in any future Star Wars movie, and we don’t plan to change those plans.”

The interview, taken on May 4th 2017, was originally meant to be off-record and was not for public release. But at the weekend the audio recording was leaked onto torrent sites and was widely circulated.

Long time critic of Jar Jar, Mark Hamill, took to social media to say the news offered “a new hope for the series”.

— NFN's Oliver Frost contributed to this report.