Iconic showdowns lost. Intriguing TV shows cancelled. And every Star Wars misstep in-between...
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00:00 From refusing to be brave enough to back an under-fire character or attempt at representation,
00:05 to on-set cock-ups forcing a lot more hard work than previously imagined, these are those
00:10 real-life blunders that Disney and Lucasfilm would no doubt like to forget ever happened.
00:14 Gareth here from What Culture Star Wars and here are the 10 Biggest Behind-the-Scenes
00:19 Star Wars Mistakes That Ever Happened.
00:21 10.
00:22 Not really committing to Star Wars' first real LGBTQ big-screen moment, the rise of
00:27 Skywalker
00:28 An awful lot of fuss was understandably made over J.J. Abrams' comments of his Skywalker
00:32 saga concluding Rise of Skywalker entry, containing a moment that would involve the LGBTQ community
00:38 being represented in the film in the lead-up to Episode IX.
00:42 And despite both Oscar Isaac and John Boyega repeatedly hinting at their desire to see
00:46 Poe Dameron and Finn, respectively, head down a romantic route together, their director
00:51 clearly sensed the duo's relationship was a far deeper one than a romantic one, according
00:56 to an interview with Variety.
00:57 So the question of how Abrams, Lucasfilm and Disney were going to deliver a moment that
01:01 didn't merely act as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it acknowledgement of the LGBTQ community being
01:06 present in the galaxy far, far away, was on the lips of many heading into the 2019 flick.
01:12 But in the end, that's precisely what the fleeting moment of representation amounted
01:15 to, sadly, with the director and those behind the flick instead opting to sprinkle a five-second
01:20 same-sex smooch in the background late on, rather than a genuine attempt to lace a meaningful
01:25 LGBTQ development involving two of the franchise's leading lights.
01:29 A gesture that quickly felt like a backward step more than anything else.
01:33 9.
01:34 Bidding off Lord & Miller midway through production, solo a Star Wars story
01:37 Phil Lord and Christopher Miller looked to have the entire galaxy at their feet heading
01:42 into their solo spin-off adventure.
01:44 Yet despite absolutely smashing it with the likes of 21 and 22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie
01:49 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, those dreaded creative differences soon reared their
01:53 head in the midst of shooting the Alden Ehrenreich-starring Han Solo prequel.
01:57 And it wasn't long before the terrific twosome were swapped out for the reliable Ron Howard.
02:03 So instead of unleashing the sort of outrageous and compelling comedy tale the two had made
02:06 a career out of in the leads leading up to their solo story, what was eventually delivered
02:11 was a much more by-the-numbers slice of Star Wars that wasn't exactly terrible by any
02:15 means, but still felt like a shell of the flick that was once promised.
02:19 Had Disney and Lucasfilm been brave enough to trust their original director's improvisation-heavy
02:23 approach, maybe there's a world where a successful solo outing could have paved the
02:27 way for a wave of other epic Star Wars stories, instead of going three years without a big-screen
02:32 entry.
02:33 8.
02:34 Constellation robs fans of a pivotal canon moment - The Clone Wars
02:38 Cad Bane's jaw-dropping arrival on the live-action stage during Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett,
02:43 while admittedly epic, brought with it a ton of mixed emotions for those who had longed
02:47 to see the blue-skinned badass genuinely collide with the titular bounty hunter on screen.
02:53 Years before this Mos Espa meeting between the two sharpshooting entities, the Clone
02:57 Wars animated series was set to unleash an arc that would have seen the pair ultimately
03:00 duke it out in a traditional shootout, back when Boba Fett was merely a teenager learning
03:05 the bounty hunting ropes.
03:06 However, the series' cancellation on the Cartoon Network in 2013 led to said arc being
03:11 scrapped before it could be fully realised on the small screen, with the only real glimpses
03:15 of this epic showdown coming in the form of a previs clip, uploaded in the thick of the
03:20 Clone Wars legacy project.
03:22 Now sure, that is most definitely better than nothing.
03:24 Yet, the fact that the pivotal simultaneous headshot moment that not only gifts Fett with
03:29 his iconic helmet dint, but hugely informs Boba's complicated relationship with Bane
03:33 is still only available via clunky test footage, is a frustrating reality that Disney should
03:38 have probably already rectified by now.
03:41 7.
03:42 Not Giving Rose More of a Spotlight After Online Backlash
03:45 The Rise of Skywalker The utilisation of Kelly Marie Tran's Rose
03:49 Tico, or lack of, on the back of her key role in The Last Jedi felt like a huge slap in
03:54 the face to both fans of her plucky resistance maintenance worker, and the actor herself.
03:59 To simply roll over and brush Rose to the sidelines on the back of the character and
04:03 actor being on the receiving end of a disgusting amount of backlash online felt like little
04:07 more than the easy and cowardly way out for all involved with bringing Episode IX into
04:12 being.
04:13 Instead of the creators behind The Rise of Skywalker giving online trolls the force-sensitive
04:17 middle finger, and doing everything in their power to remind folks that this galaxy far,
04:22 far away is for everyone, writer Chris Terrio would claim that the reason Tran was sidelined
04:26 was "to do with the difficulty of using Carrie Fisher's footage in the way we wanted
04:31 to", with Rose originally set to act as the anchor at the Rebel base who was with
04:35 Leia, before said moments between the two were said to have not looked photoreal enough
04:39 for the finished article.
04:40 Yeah, sure.
04:42 Whatever way you slice it though, many, including Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu, believe
04:46 that Rose Tico deserved better.
04:48 6.
04:49 Not having an overall vision for the entire trilogy
04:52 The sequel trilogy.
04:53 Things got off to a decent enough start for the sequels, with J.J. Abrams' The Force
04:57 Awakens successfully juggling the heart some felt went missing during the prequel trilogy
05:01 with cutting-edge visual effects and a new set of leading characters.
05:05 But then Rian Johnson opted to head in an entirely different direction to the one he
05:09 was seemingly nudged on by the prior Episode VII director, instead pouring water on the
05:13 all-important question of Rey's lineage and ambitiously trying to wander down the
05:18 "anybody can be a hero" route.
05:19 On the back of Colin Trevorrow's Rise of Skywalker departure, Abrams was back again,
05:24 and quickly set about course-correcting just about every element he didn't agree with
05:27 from Episode VIII, letting loose Grandpa Palpatine among many other jarring developments over
05:32 the course of his limp nostalgia-fest.
05:34 All in all, the sequel trilogy as a whole felt entirely disjointed and thrown together
05:38 in the end, something that would have likely been avoided had someone been trusted to forge
05:42 or stick to a single and clear vision for the episodes from start to bloody finish.
05:47 5.
05:48 Turning Obi-Wan Kenobi into a series instead of sticking to the movie concept
05:52 Obi-Wan Kenobi!
05:53 The undoubted failure of Solo A Star Wars Story at the box office had a seismic effect
05:58 on the way Disney and Lucasfilm told their space-age stories in the years that would
06:01 follow, something that will again be touched upon before the end of this list.
06:05 Had said Star Wars Story joined the likes of the sequel trilogy and Rogue One as entries
06:09 of varying quality that still managed to rope in the big bucks, there's a strong chance
06:13 Ewan McGregor would have been gifted the chance to step back into his beloved Obi-Wan Kenobi's
06:17 boots on the big screen when all was said and done.
06:20 Yet Solo did underperform at the box office, and so, instead of doubling down on what was
06:24 expected to be a trilogy of Kenobi flicks penned by screenwriter Stuart Beatty, Disney
06:29 decided to instead take the story he'd come up with over the course of a year and a half
06:33 of scribbling for that first film, and expand it into a six-part TV series.
06:37 And the at-times underwhelming end result told the story of a project that would have
06:41 undoubtedly benefited from both a two-hour runtime rather than six, and the larger-than-life
06:46 budget likely needed to give Kenobi and Vader's rematch for the ages the sense of spectacle
06:51 and drama a tale this anticipated and epic always deserved.
06:57 Wearing cameras force a complete re-recording of dialogue, Attack of the Clones
07:01 By all accounts, it's safe to say that those tasked with bringing to life the various prequel
07:05 entries weren't always over the moon to let loose George Lucas' questionable dialogue
07:09 or commit to the moment in front of little more than a blue screen.
07:13 So you can only imagine how soul-destroying it must have been for all involved with Attack
07:16 of the Clones when it was eventually revealed that the cutting-edge digital cameras Lucas
07:20 was using to capture the space opera magic actually produced a humming noise that matched
07:24 the frequency of the human voice.
07:26 What are the chances?
07:27 As Obi-Wan actor Ewan McGregor himself would tell British GQ, they discovered after we'd
07:32 finished shooting that they hummed in the frequency of the human voice, so we had to
07:36 redo every single line of the second film in ADR.
07:39 Thankfully, judging from McGregor's comments, it appears as though the audio kinks were
07:43 ironed out a touch by the time the crew came to shoot Revenge of the Sith.
07:47 Thank heavens for that.
07:49 Focusing on a Cara June spin-off, Rangers of the New Republic
07:52 With Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau's unquestionable Mandalorian success, there was always going
07:57 to come the potential of numerous spin-offs for those found crossing paths with the likes
08:01 of Din Djarin and Grogu.
08:03 And with Gina Carano's Cara June stepping into the role of New Republic Marshal during
08:06 season two of the worldwide mega-hit, it was later noted that Disney had the intentions
08:11 of putting the former MMA fighter front and centre in her own spin-off, with many eventually
08:16 assuming said show would have been the eventually announced Rangers of the New Republic.
08:20 Of course, Carano's firing from Lucasfilm on the back of the star sharing abhorrent
08:24 and unacceptable posts on social media that suggested being a Republican today was like
08:29 being Jewish in the Holocaust, quickly put an end to said Cara June's starring plans.
08:33 But Disney continued to promote an incoming Rangers of the New Republic series until Kathleen
08:38 Kennedy eventually admitted the concepts once planned for said show will figure into future
08:43 episodes of the next iteration of the Mandalorian.
08:46 Disney clearly had the intention of making Carano one of their Mandalorian corner of
08:50 the galaxy pillars, but it appears they simply backed the wrong actor for such a pivotal
08:54 part in their universe, and were forced to salvage their mistake in the aftermath.
08:58 2.
08:59 Opting to recast Han Solo - Solo A Star Wars Story
09:03 As noted a number of times over the course of this list already, the stumbling of Solo
09:07 A Star Wars Story at the box office provided both Disney and Lucasfilm with a rather painful
09:12 lesson.
09:13 But it was a gamble that could have potentially paved the way for a great many other much-loved
09:17 characters being recast, and aged down for countless new prequel big-screen adventures.
09:22 That of course didn't come to pass, however, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy would
09:26 eventually go on record to admit in a Vanity Fair piece on the latest era of Star Wars
09:30 projects that certain iconic characters simply cannot be recast, stating "there should
09:35 be moments along the way when you learn things".
09:37 Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can't do that, and said learning from
09:41 this prior mistake can now be seen in Lucasfilm's newfound obsession with de-aging its many
09:45 icons on the small screen, for better or worse.
09:48 1.
09:49 Bringing John Boyega as a new leading light, only to sideline him - The Sequel Trilogy
09:54 After being brought aboard and billed as a "leading light" upon setting foot in
09:57 the galaxy far, far away as the reformed First Order Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, John
10:02 Boyega's Finn quickly found himself being nudged to one side in favour of centring much
10:07 of the Skywalker saga's story and nuance on the likes of Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver's
10:11 Rey and Kylo Ren, respectively.
10:13 Fans of Boyega's conflicted and charismatic resistance fighter weren't the only ones
10:17 entirely brassed off by the way Disney eventually treated the one-time prominent POC character
10:21 either, with the star himself later telling GQ "What I say to Disney is do not market
10:26 a black character as important and then push them aside."
10:30 Simple as that really, isn't it?
10:31 So here's hoping Disney are wise enough to not make this sort of depressing mistake
10:34 again in their future projects on both the big and small screen in the coming years.
10:39 And that's our list!
10:40 Know of any other big behind-the-scenes Star Wars mistakes that happened?
10:43 Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget
10:47 to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:50 Also if you like this kind of thing then head on over to WotCulture.com and find some more
10:53 epic lists just like the one this video you're watching right now is based on.
10:57 I have been Gareth from WotCulture Star Wars, may the force be with you as always, thank
11:01 you for clicking on this lovely video today and hopefully I'll see you very, very soon.