10 Biggest Star Wars Retcons

4. Luke And Leia Are Siblings

Star Wars Return Of The Jedi Luke Leia
Lucasfilm

With the hindsight of Episodes VI - IX, it's always a little odd to go back and watch that infamous snog between Luke and Leia in Episode V, as well as their quick little peck before swinging over that shaft in Episode IV.

With the pair being revealed as siblings in the final chapter of the original trilogy, it's a tad uncomfortable to see them playing tonsil tennis in the first two movies, but to be fair to everyone involved, that familial bond wasn't on the cards when A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back were being written.

In 1999, original Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz discussed George Lucas' initial plans for the Star Wars saga, which were outlined in the 1970s. As well as revealing that Han Solo was supposed to die in Return of the Jedi (a plot point that Harrison Ford would've been chuffed to hear), Kurtz also noted that Leia "was not to be Luke's sister." Instead, Luke's sister was going to be a completely different character, who, interestingly, Lucas wasn't planning on introducing until Episode VIII.

Clearly though, things changed while Lucas was developing the original trilogy, and if nothing else, we should all be thankful that the extended, more intimate version of their Empire Strikes Back kissing scene didn't make the final cut.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!