10 Awesome Star Wars Ideas That Nearly Happened

Forming a vital part of the epic final chapter of the Clone War, Chewbacca and his fellow Wookiees doing their bit in fighting off The Separatists made for some of the most explosive and eye-catching set pieces the Prequels had to offer.

This was far from an idea just thrown into the mix for the sake of it, however, as George Lucas had actually been mulling over an all-out skirmish involving Chewie's species since the days of drafting up the story for A New Hope. After deciding to push back the primitive Wookiee vs. Empire war to the last film in his Original Trilogy, though, it soon became clear that the furry species wouldn't have fit the proposed battle due to being much more technologically savvy than initially imagined.

This, and the fact that creating a battle involving hundreds of Wookiees was seen as too expensive a choice at the time, led to the Ewoks being swapped in for Return of the Jedi's climax.

Yet, while it would've understandably come at quite a cost, there's no questioning the fact that a raging Wookiee war with the cheaply-kitted out Stormtroopers would've made for a much more compelling battle for the galaxy.