General Grievous was very nearly another familiar foe...
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00:00If you thought some of the twists George Lucas actually managed to squeeze into Episodes
00:041-6 were bonkers, then wait till you get a load of what else almost altered the galaxy
00:08forever.
00:09Gareth here from WhatCultureStarWars and here are 10 Insane Star Wars Plot Twists George
00:14Lucas Nearly Made Happen.
00:1610.
00:17Han Solo was actually raised by Chewbacca on Kashyyyk
00:20Acting as unquestionably the most iconic best pals in the galaxy, Han Solo and Chewbacca's
00:25friendship throughout the original trilogy and beyond helped establish both characters
00:29as the sort of lovable rogues you'd love to share a pint of blue milk with.
00:33And in an attempt to infuse some of that glorious Chewy Solo spirit into his prequel trilogy,
00:37George Lucas was actually rather close to throwing in a cheeky cameo that would have
00:41added a rather unexpected detail to the pair's relationship.
00:44On top of being gifted a solitary line in the form of I found part of a transmitter
00:48droid near the East Bay, I think it's still sending and receiving signals, Lucas had initially
00:53revealed in his script that a 10-year-old Solo was actually an orphan on Kashyyyk being
00:58raised by, you guessed it, everyone's favourite Wookiee.
01:03Yoda would have also reportedly come into contact with the soon-to-be-legendary smuggler
01:06for the very first time on screen in this brief scene, with the interaction getting
01:10as far as the concept art stage before the episode three director decided against using
01:15it in the finished product.
01:169.
01:17A Potential Anakin-Padme-Obi-Wan Love Triangle Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala's forbidden
01:23romance sits as one of the key factors in the former's eventual fall to the dark side.
01:28However, their love was once very nearly made a whole lot more complicated, with it being
01:32hinted at in an early draft of The Phantom Menace that the Queen of Naboo had some feelings
01:36for her future lover's eventual master.
01:39That's right, on a couple of occasions in those early days of episode one, Lucas alluded
01:43to Amidala apparently being quite interested in Obi-Wan Kenobi, giving him a quote-unquote
01:48long, adoring look at one point in those initial pages.
01:52This could have potentially set up one hell of a love triangle in later installments,
01:57with Anakin no doubt growing increasingly jealous of the fact that Amidala initially
02:00had eyes for his Jedi master.
02:02Awkward.
02:03And this likely playing more heavily into his eventual decision to embrace the dark
02:07side, as he attempted to keep from losing his beloved in more ways than one.
02:11Ultimately, Lucas obviously decided against muddling the central romance of the prequels
02:15with any blatant Obi-Wan flickers of additional taboo love.
02:19But that still didn't stop a paranoid Anakin from seemingly alluding to this eventually
02:23erased twist, with his words of you will not take her from me, as the pair collided on
02:27Mustafar in episode three.
02:298.
02:30Han Solo was nearly frozen for good
02:31Returning to the figure who unquestionably shot first, long before he was finally given
02:36his wish of biting the dust in the galaxy far, far away, Harrison Ford was very nearly
02:40taken out of the Star Wars action altogether, in the middle of the original trilogy.
02:44While the likes of Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were said to have signed on to appear
02:47in all three flicks, Ford was only contractually obligated to show up in A New Hope and its
02:52sequel The Empire Strikes Back.
02:54And genuinely not knowing whether his solo actor would be all that interested in playing
02:58the character again for a third time in Return of the Jedi, with Ford famously and repeatedly
03:02asking for his smuggler to be killed off throughout, Lucas decided that it was likely best to just
03:07freeze him in carbonite until it was clear as to whether they'd have a Han to play
03:10with in episode six or not.
03:12George at one point even told producer Howard Kazanjian that he was sure Ford would never
03:17return, meaning that he was very much preparing for an almost unthinkable world where Han's
03:21last hurrah would have come in episode five.
03:24Thankfully though, Ford was eventually convinced to make a comeback, and Lucas went about writing
03:28the legend back into the trilogy ending mix.
03:307.
03:31Luke becomes the new Darth Vader
03:34In what could have ranked as a twist on the same level as another Darth Vader occurrence
03:38that absolutely rocked the galaxy, there was actually a minute there when Return of
03:42the Jedi ended on the mother of all bombshells.
03:45Jumping back to a script conversation between George Lucas and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan,
03:49the latter eventually noted how the former told him of a scenario he had in mind involving
03:54Luke Skywalker pulling off one hell of a heel turn later on.
03:57After unmasking his dying father as Return of the Jedi reached its dramatic conclusion,
04:02Lucas envisioned a sequence depicting Mark Hamill's character donning the iconic helmet,
04:06before shockingly claiming, now I am Vader.
04:10On the back of executing the ultimate twist as he put it, Skywalker would then proceed
04:13to kill the Rebel fleet and rule the universe.
04:17Lovely stuff.
04:18Despite Kasdan absolutely adoring that plan and admitting that's what he wanted to happen
04:22however, Lucas soon backtracked and reminded his co-writer that this whole thing was actually,
04:26you know, for kids.
04:28So it was probably wise not to end the trilogy on a moment that would have no doubt left
04:31them all scarred for life.
04:32Would have been memorable though, right?
04:346.
04:35Luke Skywalker's Obi-Wan's brother Disney Plus' recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series
04:39confirmed that the titular broken Jedi did actually have a brother, remembering glimpses
04:44of his pre-Jedi family in a chat with a young Princess Leia.
04:47But in reality, Kenobi having a long lost bro was almost made a part of Star Wars live
04:51action history many years before that statement.
04:54With George Lucas originally writing Ben's big family reveal into Return of the Jedi
04:58screenplay many moons ago, before episode 6 eventually made its way onto the big screen,
05:03Lucas initially planned to make Luke's Uncle Owen Lars Master Kenobi's brother.
05:07And while this revelation was ultimately left out of the finished picture, it did actually
05:11make its way into the novelisation of Return of the Jedi, with Ben noting to Luke, I took
05:15you to live with my brother Owen on Tatooine.
05:18With the Legends Star Wars stories ultimately not remaining a part of the new canon though,
05:22that unexpected twist never really made its way onto the big or small screen.
05:26But who knows, if Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2 goes on to become a thing, perhaps Joel Edgerton
05:31and Ewan McGregor's versions of Owen and Ben, respectively, will finally explore a
05:34twist that once very nearly happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
05:405.
05:41Padme tries to kill her beloved Anakin at one point
05:44Another element of the doomed romance that sat at the centre of George Lucas' prequels,
05:49which never made its way into the finished article, it turns out that Padme Amidala was
05:53once set to take out her fallen beloved herself, or at the very least try.
05:57That's according to prequel trilogy concept artist Ian McHague.
06:01With the talented soul revealing a few years back that Lucas' originally planned ending
06:04for episode 3, would have seen a stunning twist involving Anakin Skywalker's love
06:09putting a knife to the Chosen One's neck.
06:11In that earlier version of Revenge of the Sith, Amidala would have been spotted putting
06:15the pieces in place for the rebellion that was being designed to overthrow an Anakin
06:18she could see was becoming a monster.
06:21Despite eventually getting within stabbing distance of the now Darth Vader on Mustafar
06:26she still wouldn't have been able to follow through on her mission to save the galaxy.
06:29Even with Skywalker allowing her the chance to do the heartbreaking deed, she just loved
06:33that crazily yungling killer too damn much.
06:36Sadly, Lucas ultimately opted against this far superior way of writing Amidala into the
06:40ending though, instead going for the choice of sobbing wife who has the life pretty much
06:44choked out of her by her raging hubby.
06:464.
06:47Darth Vader and Boba Fett are bros
06:49Obi-Wan Kenobi and Owen Lars weren't the only two lads who were once on the verge of
06:53becoming canon brothers.
06:54Two villainous figures who also just happened to sport the coolest pieces of headwear in
06:58the galaxy were almost revealed to be related too.
07:01Back when Boba Fett first arrived on the big screen scene in The Empire Strikes Back, fans
07:05were desperate to learn all they could about this effortlessly badass bounty hunter.
07:09And according to George Lucas' ex-wife and Star Wars editor Marcia Lucas, the OG plan
07:14would have seen the filmmaker eventually reveal in the prequels that the iconic antagonist
07:18was actually very much brothers with fellow legend Darth Vader.
07:22As time went by though, Lucas eventually fell out of love with the idea, feeling that
07:26it was simply too hokey to make a part of his Skywalker saga.
07:29Rather than have Boba turn out to be a Skywalker all along, Lucas instead went down the Jango
07:34Fett route of course.
07:36And yet another utterly tragic father-son tale was eventually laced into the Star Wars
07:40story.
07:413.
07:42General Grievous was actually more
07:44Speaking of iconic forces of evil in the Star Wars universe, one of the most instantly recognisable
07:49villains of all time very nearly slipped back into the prequel trilogy under fans'
07:53very noses.
07:54That's because back when George Lucas was figuring out a way to introduce the world
07:57to the cyborg menace that eventually would become General Grievous, the initial plan
08:01actually involved the shocking return of none other than Maul.
08:05After being sliced in half and seemingly killed during his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo,
08:09Maul wouldn't appear on the big screen again until Solo A Star Wars Story.
08:13Though he would take on a substantial role in both the Clone Wars and Rebels animated
08:17series.
08:18However, as revealed by one of the writers on those two animated shows, Henry Gilroy,
08:22Lucas did actually nearly bring Maul back under the armoured plating of Grievous in
08:26Episode 3.
08:27The concept guys almost managed to convince the mind behind the galaxy far, far away to
08:31commit to the return of Maul in the prequel trilogy too.
08:34But Lucas eventually felt it was best to have the General just do his own thing, something
08:38that Gilroy was thankful for.
08:402.
08:41Ota Gunga was initially wiped out before the Phantom Menace's final battle
08:45Playing a rather large part in taking the Trade Federation down a peg or two in the
08:49closing stages of the Phantom Menace, imagining an Episode 1 where Jar Jar Binks and the rest
08:53of the Gungan Grand Army aren't seen launching boomers at those silly little battle droids
08:58would be rather difficult at this stage.
09:00But in truth, there was actually a period in pre-production when George Lucas was considering
09:04leaving the Naboo natives out of the fight entirely.
09:07In fact, according to early storyboards for the flick, the Gungan city of Ota Gunga wouldn't
09:11have even made it into the final act of the film in one piece.
09:15Those early plans would have involved the beautiful underwater city being entirely destroyed,
09:20along with much of the Gungan race just before the Battle of Naboo got underway.
09:24Bummer.
09:25Feeling this particular genocide may have been a little too dark for his film, though,
09:29Lucas eventually decided against wiping out the Gungans early on.
09:32Blowing up an entire planet in Episode 4, however?
09:34That's all fine and dandy, apparently.
09:371.
09:38Palpatine created the Chosen One
09:40On questionably sitting as one of the most popular fan theories you'll find on the
09:44The concept of Emperor Palpatine actually being the force behind the bizarre conception
09:48of the Chosen One has often felt too damn logical to be wrong.
09:52After all, this was the same Sith Lord who was taught everything he knows by Darth Plagueis.
09:56You know, the dark side user who managed to find a way to create life via the Force.
10:00And had George Lucas decided to leave in a few lines during his original script for Revenge
10:05of the Sith, then that twist could have very much become canon in Episode 3.
10:09In the famous opera scene that eventually sparked the aforementioned theories into being,
10:13Palpatine would have initially told a troubled Anakin Skywalker that he had waited years
10:17for him to fulfil his destiny.
10:20Going further, the future Emperor would have shockingly added that he used the power of
10:23the Force to will the Medichlorians to start the Cell Division that resulted in a baby
10:28growing in Shmi Skywalker's belly.
10:30But Lucasfilm's story group member Matt Martin ultimately noted that Lucas scrapped
10:34this early script bombshell due to him not wanting Anakin's story to feel predestined.
10:39And so, one of the biggest mysteries in Star Wars history was preserved, opening the door
10:44for UNLIMITED FAN THEORIES in the years to come.
10:47And that's our list!
10:48Know of any other insane Star Wars plot twists George Lucas nearly made happen?
10:52Then please let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and
10:55do not forget to like, share and click on that subscribe button while you're at it!
10:59Also, if you like this kind of thing then please head on over to WhatCulture.com and
11:02find some more fantastic articles just like the one this video you're watching this
11:05very second is based on!
11:06I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, may the Force be with you, I hope I see your
11:10faces very very soon but in the meantime, just be good to yourself, bye bye!