Super Bowl commercials favorite Volkswagen channels Star Wars again this year, with the help of Bolt the dog. The follow-up to last year's The Force also features the return of Darth Vader. (PHOTO: Screen Capture / YouTube / Volkswagen).

Volkswagen is so confident in its Super Bowl marketing abilities, the German car company pokes fun at itself via Star Wars (again) in this year's much-anticipated commercial.

In The Dog Strikes Back, Bolt the dog finds himself shedding the pounds in an effort to successfully chase after his owner, who drives away each morning in a 2012 Volkswagen Beetle.

The twist comes 45 seconds into the ad, when a fan of the new commercial is greeted by Darth Vader himself.

The dog's better, a man at the bar says, in response to his friend expressing his love for the Vader kid.

Are you kidding? The dog is funnier than the Vader kid, the man continues, before Darth Vader uses The Force to correct his opinion.

The Vader kid is of course the famous tot from last year's Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial, simply titled The Force. The spot featured a mini Darth Vader attempting to use The Force to do things around the house, before finally finding success in starting his parent's Passat.

According to the LA Times, the new Volkswagen commercial is directed by cinematographer Lance Acord (Lost In Translation, Where the Wild Things Are), who also directed last year's viral hit.

To date, The Force commercial has received more than 49 million views (and counting) on the official Volkswagen YouTube channel.

In addition to bringing back Star Wars, Volkswagen has heavily relied on the canine theme for this year's Super Bowl campaign.

Two weeks ago, Volkswagen teased fans with The Bark Side, a spot with 11 canines belting out the Imperial March with well, their barks.

The commercial has since been viewed by more than 10 million people on YouTube.

The Volkswagen spot is the latest Super Bowl commercial to generate buzz before the actual game. On Jan. 26, Matthew Broderick travelled back to his Ferris Bueller days in a commercial for the new Honda CR-V, called Matthew's Day Off. The commercial has received more than 5 million views on YouTube.

The New York Giants face the New England Patriots for Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. Madonna is expected to perform at the halftime show with M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj.

Scroll down for The Dog Strikes Back, courtesy of Volkswagen and Bolt the dog.

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