8 Abandoned Plot Twists That Almost Ruined Famous Movies

3. Darth Vader Apologises Unexpectedly Over An Awkward, Drunken Dinner - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Who could forget that unbelievable moment when Darth Vader reveals that he is, in fact, Luke Skywalker's father? Whilst that twist is a stroke of genius, there's another great twist in Empire, too: the one that sees Lando Calrissian turning on his old buddy Han Solo when he first arrives at Cloud City. Lando leads Han, Leia and Chewbacca into a room, of course, only to find Darth Vader is already there waiting for them. To quote one Admiral Ackbar: "It's a trap!" Han tries to shoot Vader, but Vader blocks the blast and the gang are captured. But what if that didn't happen? What if, as outlined in screenwriter Leigh Brackett's original script, the gang arrived in Cloud City, were betrayed by Lando and... were treated to dinner? Uh-huh. In the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back, the script calls for the ultimate twist - one more unexpected than Vader turning out to be Luke's dad. Yes, Vader sits down to a meal with Han, Leia and Chewie, sort of apologises to Leia for being a d*ck on the Death Star, whilst Han watches on and glugs down glasses of wine. Vader still wants to use Leia as bait to trap Luke, but he also agrees to let them roam Cloud City at their will. So Vader was pretty chill in this original version. It's probably a good thing that Brackett's script was rewritten to feature an antagonist who was actually scary, and not one that... you know, preferred to host dinner parties and make amends. After witnessing Darth Vader's cruelty in the original movie, it would have been a super out of place to witness a sudden plot twist that saw him acting so... casual?