Before George Lucas finalised the script for The Empire Strikes Back with Lawrence Kasdan, he originally had hired accomplished sci-fi writer Leigh Brackett to pen it, from his broad outline. Brackett, at the time suffering from cancer and in her early 60s, turned in a draft which did not feature Darth Vader revealing himself as Luke's father. Instead, he was actually responsible for Anakin's death. In fact, Brackett's draft had Luke meeting the ghost of his father Anakin whilst on Dagobah with Yoda - who, by the way, was called Minch in her draft. It's actually one of several differences - Han doesn't get captured, Luke doesn't lose a hand, etc etc. Anakin explains that when he saw the Empire closing in, he had Luke and his sister (who wasn't necessarily Leia at the time) separated as babies to protect them. Vader eventually killed him, just like Obi-Wan says he did. In the original draft, Vader still seeks to recruit Luke - just not as his offspring. Rather as a powerful ally useful for a coup d'état against the Emperor. In their showdown on Bespin, Vader even says "You dont stand a chance against me No more than your father did, anyway." Burn. In the end, Lucas was unhappy with the draft, and intended on hashing out the whole father-angle with Brackett. Unfortunately, she passed away before they could have such a meeting, due to her tragic battle with cancer. In the end, he collaborated with Kasdan, and that's how we got the iconic ending we know and love today.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
