C-3PO Heads to the Super Bowl as Anthony Daniels Joins Disney's Star Wars Funday Football
Anthony Daniels will voice C-3PO in Disney's Star Wars Funday Football during Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027.
Disney's next sports crossover is bringing one of Star Wars' most familiar voices onto football's biggest stage. Anthony Daniels is set to return as C-3PO for Star Wars Funday Football, an alternate animated presentation tied to Super Bowl LXI.
What changes on Super Bowl Sunday
The new piece of the announcement is Daniels' involvement. The longtime C-3PO performer will voice the droid in Star Wars Funday Football, which is scheduled to air at the same time as Super Bowl LXI on Sunday, February 14, 2027.
Viewers will be able to watch the Star Wars themed telecast on Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney XD, and the ESPN App. That makes the presentation relevant to both Star Wars fans and Disney viewers who may want a character driven version of the game instead of the standard broadcast.
ESPN is producing the event, using data visualization tools from Sony's Beyond Sports. The animated game presentation relies on player tracking information from the NFL's Next Gen Stats along with optical tracking from Sony's Hawk-Eye Innovations.
The Super Bowl edition also marks a first for this format. It will be the fourth Funday Football overall, following earlier versions built around The Simpsons, Toy Story, and Monsters. It is also the first animated alternate telecast built around a Super Bowl.
Why Daniels' return stands out
Daniels has been linked with C-3PO since Star Wars began in theaters with 1977's A New Hope. He has played the character in nearly every Star Wars movie, and has also voiced or portrayed C-3PO in television projects including The Clone Wars and Rebels.
His work with the character has extended outside the core films as well, including appearances in The LEGO Movie and LEGO Star Wars specials. That history makes his involvement in the Super Bowl presentation a notable addition for longtime fans.
The telecast arrives in the same week that a restored version of the original 1977 Star Wars film is set to return to theaters on Friday, February 19. For Disney and Star Wars audiences, that puts one of the franchise's oldest characters in view across both live event programming and the big screen.
