Very rarely does a movie wholly breeze through its story on the first conscription , and that ’s peculiarly true when you ’re get a whole new world to the big screen . In 1974 , George Lucas finished a rough draft for what would finally becomeStar Wars , with multiple other draft to follow , include one titledAdventures of the Starkiller , Episode I : The Star Wars .
Though fans care to think ofStar Warsas a sprawl saga that was meticulously think out from day one , it turns out Lucas made numerous alteration to his core storey , not only before the 1977 passing ofA New Hope , but all the direction through the net film . Here are eight notable changes from those early drafts .
1. HAN SOLO HAD GILLS //STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE
Han Solo , everybody ’s favorite suave smuggler , originally was n’t going to be toy by a young , openhanded Harrison Ford . In fact , he was n’t get going to be very human at all . In anearly scriptforStar Wars , Solo was described as a marvelous , reptilian puppet with green skin , no nose , and a hefty solidification of gills . As the drafts evolve , Star Warsslowly transformed from niche sci - fi / fantasy to a more relatable brand of place westerly ; inevitably Han Solo turn into the blank space cowhand everyone have it off today .
2. THE STORY OF MACE WINDU //A NEW HOPE
Despite what you ’ve been go to believe , theStar Warssaga did n’t just come out to Lucas in a fever dream one foreign night — in fact , the first span draft ofA New Hopeare fundamentally unrecognisable from what we get laid today . One of the big omissions in those first few attempts is Luke Skywalker himself . Instead , the movie in the beginning involved a character named Mace Windu , with the playscript beginning with theimpenetrable intro"The Story of Mace Windu : a fear Jedi - Bendu of Ophuchi who was relate to Usby CJ Thape , Padawaan learner to the renowned Jedi … "
The problem was that no one understood a parole of it , and rightfully so . As the gulp evolved , Mace Windu was replaced by Kane Starkiller , who was finally turned into the far more relatable Luke Skywalker . The fibre ofMace Windudid live on in the prequel trilogy , though all that " Jedi - Bendu of Ophuchi " nonsense was left on the cut room floor .
3. FAMILIAR NAMES, NEW FACES //A NEW HOPE
Luke filled the distinctive Joseph Campbell hero mold in the firstStar Warstrilogy , but the character was originally much different from the farm boy who leave home to take on the Empire . In those other drafts , Luke Skywalker was abattle - fag war heroand one of the last hold up Jedi ( call off the Jedi - Bendu at first ) .
Vader was there , too , but without the stylemark mask , cape , and intergalactic asthma — he was even known as General Vader at one point . In the beginning , he was gestate as an evil confederate for Prince Valorum , a mask Sith Knight task with hunting down the rest Jedi - Bendu . Eventually Vader became an uniting of several character reference throughout different drafts , with hissignature maskcoming from creative person Ralph McQuarrie , who reckon it necessary since Vader would literally be traveling from ship to embark in the vacuum of space .
4. NELLITH SKYWALKER//THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
The Skywalker folk tree has more branches than a Colorado spruce , but the original draught for 1980’sThe Empire Strikes Backwould have rattled the clan ’s genealogy even further . compose by Leigh Brackett , the first go - around at the flick ’s story did introduce the thought of Luke give birth a sis , but it was n’t Leia . Instead , the Princess remained a born - and - bred Organa , while Luke ’s twin was revealed to bea woman cite Nellith .
At the same fourth dimension Luke was training under Yoda , Nellith would also be teach the ways of the Force on the road to becoming a Jedi Knight . How this all was going to pan out out is unnamed , as it was supposed to be resolved in a third movie . But when this draft was rejected , so too was the story of Nellith .
5. ENDOR: HOME OF THE WOOKIEES //RETURN OF THE JEDI
It was n’t until 2005’sRevenge of the Siththat fans finally got a glimpse of a full - fledged Wookiee regular army go into struggle , but the original musical theme for 1983’sReturn of the Jedihad it bump near 20 years in the first place . Instead of a battalion of teddy bears taking on the Empire for the terminal installation in the trilogy , Lucas want Endor to be thehome of theWookiees , culminate in a climactic battle between the two sect .
However , Lucas finally matt-up that the Wookiees would be too technologically advanced for his visual modality of the tarradiddle . He wanted to showcase a primitive species besting the evil Empire ( a veiled metaphor for Vietnam ) , and seemingly the Wookiees were a bit too tech - discernment for that to work .
6. THE (ORIGINAL) DEATH OF HAN SOLO //RETURN OF THE JEDI
At this point , fairly much everyone knows that 2015’sStar Wars : The Force Awakensdoesn’t go according to plan for Han Solo . But before he was gutted by Kylo Ren , Harrison Ford and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan wanted Solo to sacrifice his life for the Rebel squad former inReturn of the Jedi . Ford hoped that this wouldadd some depthand gravitas to a movie that sport anelephant play the keyboard . Plus , the actor has gone on the record to take that Solo wasnever that interesting to him .
However , Ford enunciate , " George did n’t think there was any future in beat Han toy , " so Solo was go forth amongst the living ( for the time being ) .
7. HAD ABBADON, ABANDONED //RETURN OF THE JEDI
The first two installments in theStar Warstrilogy show the Empire ’s mammoth infinite station and star cruisers littered throughout the galaxy , butReturn of the Jediwas going to one - up that optic with an up - tight spirit at the Empire’shomeworld of Had Abbadon . This proposed urban center - planet was going to be the location of much of the film ’s action , including a lightsaber battle between Luke and Vader in the Emperor ’s fiery throne room .
So what happen ? Logistically , putting a city - planet on film just was n’t workable in the ' 80 . The monumental sets , models , and matte painting would be too price - prohibitive , and even with a humble fortune at his garbage disposal , the technological advance merely were n’t in place to get the idea off the ground . The musical theme was revise in the Prequel Trilogy , though , with the introduction of the global metropolis of Coruscant .
8. TWIN DEATH STARS //RETURN OF THE JEDI
McQuarrieMonday- A concept depicting a mesh of multiple Death Stars.pic.twitter.com/naEUSZOEn9
As interesting as the major planet open of Had Abbadon go , what ’s even more intriguing is what was set up to orbit the Imperial Das Kapital : two massive Death Stars . alternatively of the lone moonshine - sized infinite station from the net film , there were going to be twin destructive Earth under expression around the satellite .
construct artist Ralph McQuarrie even produced some paintings of what the Death Stars were going to look like . While they never really saw the light of day , chemical element of them seem to haveinspired the lookof the Starkiller Base fromThe Force Awakens .
