The Empire Strikes Back: 5 Things In The Original Script That Would Have Ruined The Movie

By James Garcia /

The Empire Strikes Back is the most beloved film in the Star Wars saga. It's a masterpiece on several levels, and that's all thanks to some much needed changes from the original scripts. The first draft was written by Leigh Brackett, who turned in her script to George Lucas just before dying of cancer in March 1978. Lucas didn't like the direction of her treatment, wrote a new draft of his own, and then hired Lawrence Kasdan to finish the job. The original drafts for the film contain some pretty interesting bits of information, and would have drastically changed the course of the Star Wars universe. Though there are several great ideas present in the earlier treatments, there are a few puzzling ones as well. I've compiled a list of 5 things they thankfully changed, that would have drastically altered, and probably ruined, the final film...

5. Vader Had Pet Gargoyles

In the original script, Vader lived in a castle, complete with a lava moat, and would have had pet gargoyles. There's nothing more to say about that, other than... "WHAT?" Luckily, this idea was quickly thrown away and instead, Vader resides mainly on the Super Star Destroyer called The Executor, his personal flagship.