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No matter how long you ’ve been aStar Warsfan , there ’s always something new to discover . TheStar Warsuniverse is almost infinitely dumb with planets , character , creatures , and stories . As a resultant role of that density , the franchise itself is just as full of deep trivium and substitute path .
George Lucas ’s willingness to try out with the mythology and plan of his epic space saga set a common law that continues in the dealership ’s current looping . For every casting pick , story arc , or fomite design , there are a hundred alternatives that came really close to becoming realness in theStar Warsuniverse .
Star Warsmight have the most punctilious fans on the planet . Every constituent of every piece of the franchise is carefully studied and obsessively lumber by buff , crystalize every street corner of theStar Warsuniverse .
Replace any one piece of the puzzle and the whole thing looks drastically dissimilar to the multitude who have followed it so close . That ’s why it ’s perpetually fascinating to dive into all the might - have - been moment thatStar Warshas collected over the past 40 years .
For a exhaustive introduction to the choice galaxy far , far away , here are the15 Things That ALMOST bump InStar Wars .
Han Dies in the Original Trilogy
It ’s common cognition that Han Solo ’s death inThe Force Awakenswas a long - obligate wish carry through for wizard Harrison Ford . Ever since he was frozen in carbonite inThe Empire Strikes Back , Ford has been attempt to kill off the character that made him famed , but the reasons were less malicious and more a matter of aesthetic integrity .
In Ford ’s perspective , a ego - sacrificial destruction for Han near the end of the original trilogy would have made a more satisfying character spark . Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan concord , and both he and Ford petition George Lucas hard to permit them kill off Han for the sake of good drama .
Of of course , Lucas nixed the mind and the rest is chronicle . In any typeface , Han himself would in all probability rather have been kill in a larger-than-life bit of self - sacrifice than by the hand of his own emo son .
An Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme Love Triangle
Fans have speculated for years whether or not there might be an unuttered dearest Triangulum going on between Anakin , Padme , and Obi - Wan in the prequel trilogy . But what if that making love triangle is was originally more intentional than even the most promising of fans originally thought ?
accord to some author close to Lucas , there was a item ahead of time on the development of the prequel trilogy where the director may have include a love affaire between Obi - Wan and Padme as the central motivation for Anakin to vacate the Jedi Order and reverse to the dark side .
There are certainly proffer inRevenge of the Siththat the full - fledged sexual love trigon angle was there at some point in time . On Mustafar , for example , Anakin sounds spookily like a overjealous partner when he accuses Padme of land Obi - Wan there to vote out him .
The last product may only mistily suggest that there ’s something going on between Padme and Obi - Wan , but there ’s definitely enough there to strongly suggest that a amatory relationship between the two is immerse somewhere in the DNA of the chronicle .
Boba Fett is the Central Villain of Return of the Jedi
George Lucas experimented heavily with hisStar Warsstories long before any of them even made it past the first - potation phase . An early looping ofReturn of the Jedi , for example , focalize solely on Han Solo ’s rescue , cook Boba Fett the central scoundrel of the movie . The idea was then to preserve Luke ’s final confrontation with Vader for another installment down the route .
Eventually , the Han Solo rescue game was condensed intoReturn of the Jedi ’s first act , pull up stakes Boba Fett to be killed off untimely . The fact that Boba has become an iconic lover - favorite seems to show how much the character deserved more CRT screen clip than he ended up with . Here ’s hoping we still get the Boba Fett spin - off movie somewhere down the descent .
Emperor Palpatine’s Lava Lair in Return of the Jedi
Darth Vader ’s Castle on Mustafar made its debut inRogue One , and is rumored to return in future movie . What fans may not know is that the concept of Vader ’s volcanic hideaway has survive in some form or another since the other day of the original trilogy .
Vader ’s palace was first proposed as a location for The Empire Strikes Back , but was scrapped in the pre - production process when there was n’t elbow room for it in the final draft of the story . It was then repurposed as a lair / crapper way for Emperor Palpatine for is bragging reveal in Return of the Jedi .
Ralph McQuarrie ’s concept art for the scene gives us a glimpse at just how larger-than-life the big encounter between Palpatine , Luke , and Vader would have been at such a boding location .
There ’s no uncertainty that the Palpatine lava den paved the fashion for Revenge of the Sith ’s Mustafarian lightsaber battle , but one wonders if this character of setting would have been well service as a smaller , real dress with pragmatic effects .
Poe Dameron dies in Force Awakens
The Force Awakensscreenplay went through quite a few iteration , both before and during production . In addition to thetransfer of writing dutiesfrom original film writer Michael Arndt to director J.J. Abrams and original trilogy author Lawrence Kasdan , one of the most drastic change to the TFA script was the ultimate fortune of ace Resistance pilot Poe Dameron .
As many fan now know , Poe was in the first place hypothesize to go down with his and Finn ’s stolen Tie Fighter after their crash landing on Jakku . However , after his initial group meeting with Oscar Isaac , Abrams retooled the role to jibe into the quietus of the motion-picture show .
Poe ’s miraculous off - screen escape from harm on Jakku is a bit of a storytelling cop - out , but really , who ’s complaining about the outcome ?
Prequels directed by Robert Zemeckis, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Ron Howard
However you may find about theStar Warsprequels , there ’s no inquiry that they ’re a pure execution of George Lucas ’ esthetic visual sensation — so much so that it ’s hard to imagine them being direct by anyone else . But that was nevertheless Lucas ’ original plan for all three prequel films .
Much likeEmpire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi , Lucas originally envisioned the prequel films as a distance to collaborate with his equal , let them take the director ’s seatand make their stamp on his universe .
Long before he was brought in by Kathleen Kennedy to save the upcomingHan Solospin - off picture show , Ron Howard was approached by Lucas to directThe Phantom Menace — as were other Hollywood heavyweight like Robert Zemeckis , Steven Spielberg , and even Francis Ford Coppola . give the singularity of Lucas ’ imagination for the prequels , they were all probably right-hand to ferment the job down .
Luke’s Lightsaber in The Opening Shot of The Force Awakens
Almost a yr before the release ofThe Force Awakens , the picture ’s opening shot was rumored to feature Luke ’s dismembered manus and lightsaber floating through space right after the rubric crawl . This turned out not to be the type for the finished ware , but that does n’t mean it was n’t the original plan .
Since the film ’s outlet , we ’ve had multiple confirmation that Luke ’s lightsaber was indeed the opening shot through multiple iteration of the script . However , floor changes during the motion picture ’s production transferred Luke ’s saber from the hold of space to Maz Kanata ’s basement .
As the macguffin ofThe Force Awakens , the Skywalker family lightsaber is essential — both visually and thematically — to the celluloid ’s entire narrative spark . It ’s a ignominy that the story could n’t make way for the original opening move shot as it exchange over time .
Benicio Del Toro as Darth Maul
closely 20 years before he was throw up as the mysteriousDJ inThe Last Jedi , Benicio Del Toro was set to play the most beloved villain and standout ocular ikon of the prequel era . As Darth Maul , Del Toro would have have sure been a revelation . alas , the prolific worker left the project after Lucas thin out the bulk of Maul ’s lines out of the hand .
As portrayed by Ray Park in The Phantom Menace , Darth Maul was a rare , understood strong-arm threat . It was an coming that doubtlessly work for the role , but watching Maul ’s extended role inThe Clone WarsorStar Wars : Rebelsgives us a glance at what Del Toro might have been capable to do with the character , had Lucas not cut down his helping of the screenplay .
Star Wars is Flash Gordon Instead
You ca n’t talk about the inception ofStar Warswithout also verbalize aboutFlash Gordon . George Lucas came up with the whole idea forStar Warsout of a desire to combine the mythologic explorations of Joseph Campbell with the retro - futuristic camp of the Saturday matineeFlash Gordonserials he grew up watching .
However , what if Lucas had chuck theStar Warsidea altogether in favor of a directFlash Gordonadaptation ? Had the director been capable to give theFlash Gordonrights , that ’s precisely what would ’ve fall out .
Not long after making his first sci - fi feature , THX-1138 , Lucas sought the rights toFlash Gordonfrom Universal . He was obviously taken with the whole blank space opera idea , and thought he could take what he hump about theFlash Gordonproperty and update it with better special effects and craftier storytelling .
as luck would have it for us , the right toFlash Gordonwere undoable to the young filmmaker , a fresh , improve space opera house was born .
Glynn Turman as Han Solo
A lot of vernal actor that have since become household names were up for the role of Han Solo in 1976 . Al Pacino , Christopher Walken , Kurt Russel , and even Robert Englund ( Freddy Krueger himself ) are just a handful of the notable stars who try out to play everyone ’s favorite Corellian runner . But the most intriguing name in the crowd is actor Glynn Turman .
In accession to drastically changing the entire landscape of twentieth century action mechanism celluloid , casting Turman as Han Solo alternatively of Harrison Ford would have had highly influential ethnic implications .
Casting a black player as Han Solo in an otherwise predominantly snowy male mold would have coif a precedent of diversity that end up take over thirty years to establish within the Star Wars dealership . Even in 1980 , an interracial onscreen romance between Han and Leia would almost sure as shooting have been groundbreaking .
