10 Biggest Behind The Scenes Star Wars Mistakes That Ever Happened
Iconic showdowns lost. Intriguing TV shows cancelled. And every Star Wars misstep in-between...
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00:00From refusing to be brave enough to back an under-fire character or attempt at representation,
00:05to on-set cock-ups forcing a lot more hard work than previously imagined, these are those
00:10real-life blunders that Disney and Lucasfilm would no doubt like to forget ever happened.
00:15Gareth here from WhatCulture Star Wars and here are the 10 Biggest Behind-the-Scenes
00:19Star Wars Mistakes That Ever Happened.
00:2110.
00:22Not really committing to Star Wars' first real LGBTQ big-screen moment – The Rise
00:27of Skywalker
00:28An awful lot of fuss was understandably made over J.J. Abrams' comments of his Skywalker
00:32saga concluding Rise of Skywalker entry, containing a moment that would involve the LGBTQ community
00:38being represented in the film in the lead-up to Episode IX.
00:42And despite both Oscar Isaac and John Boyega repeatedly hinting at their desire to see
00:46Poe Dameron and Finn, respectively, head down a romantic route together, their director
00:51clearly sensed the duo's relationship was a far deeper one than a romantic one, according
00:56to an interview with Variety.
00:57So the question of how Abrams, Lucasfilm and Disney were going to deliver a moment
01:01that didn't merely act as a blink-and-you'll-miss-it acknowledgement of the LGBTQ community being
01:06present in the galaxy far, far away, was on the lips of many heading into the 2019 flick.
01:12But in the end, that's precisely what the fleeting moment of representation amounted
01:15to, sadly, with the director and those behind the flick instead opting to sprinkle a five-second
01:20same-sex smooch in the background late on, rather than a genuine attempt to lace a meaningful
01:25LGBTQ development involving two of the franchise's leading lights, a gesture that quickly felt
01:30like a backward step more than anything else.
01:339.
01:34Bidding Off Lord & Miller Midway Through Production – Solo A Star Wars Story
01:37Phil Lord and Christopher Miller look to have the entire galaxy at their feet heading into
01:42their solo spin-off adventure.
01:44Yet despite absolutely smashing it with the likes of 21 and 22 Jump Street, The Lego Movie
01:49and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, those dreaded creative differences soon reared their
01:53head in the midst of shooting the Alden Ehrenreich-starring Han Solo prequel, and it wasn't long before
01:59the terrific twosome were swapped out for the reliable Ron Howard.
02:03So instead of unleashing the sort of outrageous and compelling comedy tale the two had made
02:06a career out of in the leads leading up to their solo story, what was eventually delivered
02:11was a much more by-the-numbers slice of Star Wars that wasn't exactly terrible by any
02:15means, but it still felt like a shell of the flick that was once promised.
02:19Had Disney and Lucasfilm been brave enough to trust their original director's improvisation-heavy
02:24approach, maybe there's a world where a successful solo outing could have paved the
02:27way for a wave of other epic Star Wars stories, instead of going three years without a big-screen
02:32entry.
02:338.
02:34Constellation Robs Fans of a Pivotal Canon Moment – The Clone Wars
02:38Cad Bane's jaw-dropping arrival on the live-action stage during Disney Plus' The Book of Boba
02:42Fett, while admittedly epic, brought with it a ton of mixed emotions for those who had
02:47longed to see the blue-skinned badass genuinely collide with the titular bounty hunter on
02:52screen.
02:53For example, for this Mos Espa meeting between the two sharpshooting entities, the Clone
02:57Wars animated series was set to unleash an arc that would have seen the pair ultimately
03:00duke it out in a traditional shootout, back when Boba Fett was merely a teenager learning
03:05the bounty-hunting ropes.
03:06However, the series' cancellation on the Cartoon Network in 2013 led to said arc being
03:11scrapped before it could be fully realised on the small screen, with the only real glimpses
03:15of this epic showdown coming in the form of a previs clip, uploaded in the thick of the
03:20Clone Wars legacy project.
03:22I'm sure that's most definitely better than nothing, yet the fact that the pivotal
03:25simultaneous headshot moment that not only gifts Fett with his iconic helmet dint, but
03:30hugely informs Boba's complicated relationship with Bane is still only available via clunky
03:35test footage, is a frustrating reality that Disney should have probably already rectified
03:40by now.
03:417.
03:42Not Giving Rose More of a Spotlight After Online Backlash
03:45The Rise of Skywalker The utilisation of Kelly Marie Tran's Rose
03:49Tico, or lack of, on the back of her key role in The Last Jedi felt like a huge slap
03:54in the face to both fans of her plucky resistance maintenance worker, and the actor herself.
03:59To simply roll over and brush Rose to the sidelines on the back of the character and
04:03actor being on the receiving end of a disgusting amount of backlash online felt like little
04:07more than the easy and cowardly way out for all involved with bringing Episode IX into
04:12being.
04:13Instead of the creators behind The Rise of Skywalker giving online trolls the force-sensitive
04:17middle finger, and doing everything in their power to remind folks that this galaxy far,
04:22far away is for everyone, writer Chris Terrio would claim that the reason Tran was sidelined
04:26was "...to do with the difficulty of using Carrie Fisher's footage in the way we wanted
04:31to," with Rose originally set to act as the anchor at the Rebel base who was with
04:35Leia, before said moments between the two were said to have not looked photoreal enough
04:39for the finished article.
04:41Yeah, sure.
04:42Whatever way you slice it though, many, including Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu, believe
04:46that Rose Tico deserved better.
04:486.
04:49Not having an overall vision for the entire trilogy
04:52The sequel trilogy.
04:53Things got off to a decent enough start for the sequels, with J.J. Abrams' The Force
04:57Awakens successfully juggling the heart some felt went missing during the prequel trilogy
05:01with cutting-edge visual effects and a new set of leading characters.
05:05But then Rian Johnson opted to head in an entirely different direction to the one he
05:09was seemingly nudged on by the prior Episode VII director, instead pouring water on the
05:13all-important question of Rey's lineage and ambitiously trying to wander down the
05:18anybody-can-be-a-hero route.
05:19On the back of Colin Trevorrow's Rise of Skywalker departure, Abrams was back again,
05:24and quickly set about course-correcting just about every element he didn't agree with
05:27from Episode VIII, letting loose Grandpa Palpatine among many other jarring developments over
05:32the course of his limp nostalgia-fest.
05:34All in all, the sequel trilogy as a whole felt entirely disjointed and thrown together
05:38in the end, something that would have likely been avoided had someone been trusted to forge
05:42or stick to a single and clear vision for the episodes from start to bloody finish.
05:475.
05:48Turning Obi-Wan Kenobi into a series instead of sticking to the movie concept
05:52Obi-Wan Kenobi!
05:53The undoubted failure of Solo A Star Wars Story at the box office had a seismic effect
05:58on the way Disney and Lucasfilm told their space-age stories in the years that would
06:02follow, something that will again be touched upon before the end of this list.
06:05Had said Star Wars Story joined the likes of the sequel trilogy and Rogue One as entries
06:09of varying quality that still managed to rope in the big bucks, there's a strong
06:13chance Ewan McGregor would have been gifted the chance to step back into his beloved Obi-Wan
06:17Kenobi's boots on the big screen when all was said and done.
06:20Yet Solo did underperform at the box office, and so, instead of doubling down on what was
06:24expected to be a trilogy of Kenobi flicks penned by screenwriter Stuart Beatty, Disney
06:29decided to instead take the story he'd come up with over the course of a year and a half
06:33of scribbling for that first film, and expand it into a six-part TV series.
06:38And the at-times-underwhelming end result told the story of a project that would have
06:41undoubtedly benefited from both a two-hour runtime rather than six, and the larger-than-life
06:46budget likely needed to give Kenobi and Vader's rematch for the ages the sense of spectacle
06:51and drama a tale this anticipated and epic always deserved.
06:554.
06:56Wearing Cameras Force a Complete Rerecording of Dialogue – Attack of the Clones
07:01By all accounts, it's safe to say that those tasked with bringing to life the various prequel
07:05entries weren't always over the moon to let loose George Lucas' questionable dialogue,
07:10or commit to the moment in front of little more than a blue screen.
07:13So you can only imagine how soul-destroying it must have been for all involved with Attack
07:16of the Clones when it was eventually revealed that the cutting-edge digital cameras Lucas
07:20was using to capture the space opera magic actually produced a humming noise that matched
07:24the frequency of the human voice.
07:26What are the chances?
07:27As Obi-Wan actor Ewan McGregor himself would tell British GQ, they discovered after we'd
07:33hummed in the frequency of the human voice, so we had to redo every single line of the
07:38second film in ADR.
07:39Thankfully, judging from McGregor's comments, it appears as though the audio kinks were
07:43ironed out a touch by the time the crew came to shoot Revenge of the Sith.
07:47Thank heavens for that.
07:483.
07:49Focusing on a Cara Dune Spinoff – Rangers of the New Republic
07:52With Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau's unquestionable Mandalorian success, there was always going
07:57to come the potential of numerous spinoffs for those found crossing paths with the likes
08:01of Din Djarin and Grogu.
08:03And with Gina Carano's Cara Dune stepping into the role of New Republic Marshal during
08:06Season 2 of the worldwide mega-hit, it was later noted that Disney had the intentions
08:11of putting the former MMA fighter front and centre in her own spinoff, with many eventually
08:16assuming said show would have been the eventually announced Rangers of the New Republic.
08:20Of course, Carano's firing from Lucasfilm on the back of the star sharing abhorrent
08:24and unacceptable posts on social media that suggested being a Republican today was like
08:29being Jewish in the Holocaust, quickly put an end to said Cara Dune's starring plans.
08:33But Disney continued to promote an incoming Rangers of the New Republic series, until
08:38Kathleen Kennedy eventually admitted the concepts once planned for said show will figure into
08:42future episodes, I'm sure, of the next iteration of the Mandalorian.
08:46Disney clearly had the intention of making Carano one of their Mandalorian corner of
08:50the galaxy pillars, but it appears they simply backed the wrong actor for such a pivotal
08:54part in their universe, and were forced to salvage their mistake in the aftermath.
08:592.
09:00Opting to recast Han Solo, Solo A Star Wars Story
09:03As noted a number of times over the course of this list already, the stumbling of Solo
09:07A Star Wars Story at the box office provided both Disney and Lucasfilm with a rather painful
09:12lesson.
09:13But it was a gamble that could have potentially paved the way for a great many other much-loved
09:17characters being recast, and aged down for countless new prequel big-screen adventures.
09:21That, of course, didn't come to pass, however, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy would
09:26eventually go on record to admit in a Vanity Fair piece on the latest era of Star Wars
09:30projects that certain iconic characters simply cannot be recast, stating there should be
09:35moments along the way when you learn things.
09:37Now it does seem so abundantly clear that we can't do that, and said learning from
09:41this prior mistake can now be seen in Lucasfilm's newfound obsession with de-aging its many
09:45icons on the small screen, for better or worse.
09:481.
09:49Bringing John Boyega as a new leading light, only to sideline him
09:52The sequel trilogy
09:54After being brought aboard and billed as a leading light upon setting foot in the galaxy
09:58far, far away as the reformed First Order Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, John Boyega's
10:03Finn quickly found himself being nudged to one side in favour of centring much of the
10:07Skywalker saga's story and nuance on the likes of Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver's
10:11Rey and Kylo Ren, respectively.
10:13Fans of Boyega's conflicted and charismatic resistance fighter weren't the only ones
10:17entirely brassed off by the way Disney eventually treated the one-time prominent POC character
10:21either, with the star himself later telling GQ,
10:24What I say to Disney is do not market a black character as important and then push them
10:29aside.
10:30Simple as that really, isn't it?
10:31So here's hoping Disney are wise enough to not make this sort of depressing mistake
10:34again in their future projects on both the big and small screen in the coming years.
10:39And that's our list!
10:40Know of any other big behind-the-scenes Star Wars mistakes that happened?
10:43Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget
10:47to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it.
10:50Also if you like this kind of thing, then head on over to WhatCulture.com and find some
10:53more epic lists just like the one this video you're watching right now is based on.
10:57I have been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, may the force be with you as always, thank
11:01you for clicking on this lovely video today and hopefully I'll see you very, very soon.
11:05Bye!