10 Star Wars Moments That Were Almost WAY Darker
Luke's robot hand with a mind of its own? No thank you!
Despite its protestations that it's all about a galaxy far, far away, the Star Wars saga is fantasy, first and foremost. But how many times have fantasy stories crept into the darker edges of storytelling? Before you answer, please keep in mind that in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is embalmed alive by a spider the size of a car.
Even in Star Wars people are tortured, impaled, and chopped in half throughout the franchise, with the audience barely batting an eyelid as these things play out in front of them.
In its defense, Star Wars has, for the most part, been better at suggesting where others may tell. With some notable exceptions, it has known when to hold back on showing something that would creep into 'too much' territory with a static shot. Sure, several of the examples on this list may sound cool in isolation, but their excising from the films was probably for the best - and we'll explain why as we go.
Some of these scenes are deleted from the final cut, while some never made it past the storyboard and planning stages but, hey, there may be another cut of each film in about ten years with everything back in. You never know with Star Wars
10. Han Solo Was Going To Die (Earlier)
Return of the Jedi producer Howard Kazanjian revealed that there was an issue with whether they would get Harrison Ford back at all for Return of the Jedi. He had not signed on for a third film like Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, which is what led to his imprisonment in carbonite at the end of Empire. He says that he suggested to George Lucas that Han needed to return, but Lucas shot this down, saying that Ford would never agree to it.
Kazanjian then described a meeting he had with David Gersh, who was the son of Phil Gersh - the agent who had handled Ford on Raiders of the Lost Ark. Kazanjian and David negotiated a deal for Ford to reprise his role (something Phil was furious about when he found out).
With Ford signed on, several ideas were thrown about - including killing Solo once and for all. This would happen early in the final act of the film in an act of self-sacrifice. However, again Lucas vetoed this. He was the king of merchandising and, as Ford himself said, Lucas could not see a future in dead Han Solo toys. Therefore, Solo lived to fight another day.