10 Star Wars Moments That Were Almost WAY Darker
8. Luke Was To Become Vader
One of the strangest scenes that exists in The Empire Strikes Back, sees Luke Skywalker face off against Darth Vader. Well, he sort of does. During his training with Yoda, he enters a cave that sees him come face to face, so to speak, with an apparition of the Sith Lord, revealing something that he doesn't truly understand - his own face behind the mask.
In the closing scenes of The Return of the Jedi, Vader has been saved from the Dark Side, having turned against the Emperor to save his son. Both Luke and Vader have, for better or worse, accepted the massive reveal (we would say spoilers, but, come on) that Vader is Anakin Skywalker.
However, as Anakin lies dying, he asks Luke to remove his mask so that he can see him better. Director Lawrence Kasdan suggested that, at that point, Luke place the mask on his own head and exclaim that he has become Vader.
Thankfully, George Lucas shot this idea down. He felt that it simply didn't suit the tone of the film, which he still felt was aimed at children, or the arc that Luke had come on. Therefore, he simply watches as his father dies and burns the body which, while not exactly being entirly fun-for-the-whole-family, is at least less poetically sinister.