8 Different Versions Of Star Wars Episode VII That Were Almost Made

2. The Empire Strikes Back

When Did It Almost Happen? During the production of Episode V.

Episode V was originally going to be Episode VII. Yeah, really.

As already discussed, Lucas had a broad, twelve movie plan following Star Wars, and although the obvious assumption is that it was to be four sets of three, Lucas imagined it differently. The way he saw it, there would be three trilogies, interspersed with more stand-alone movies; Episode I would be a prelude, Episode II, III and IV would detail the Clone Wars (mentioned in the first Star Wars), Episode V would bridge the gap between Republic and Empire, Episode VI, VII and VIII would be the Original Trilogy, Episodes IX, X and XI would be some form of Sequel Trilogy (plot undefined) and Episode XII would be the finale of the whole thing.

Some elements of this approach remain - Episode I is really setting the scene and the next two (instead of three) Episodes show the Clone Wars - but for the most part it's just an early draft of a massive Saga. The thing that changed all that? The twist.

The reveal that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker really is the most important moment in the Star Wars Saga, not just in-universe, but also in how it changed the story's direction. Introduced in the second draft of Empire, it totally repurposed the Saga; this wasn't just a galactic conflict, but a generation spanning family drama.

Rather than just being players in the story, the Skywalkers were the story. With an actual point to the whole Saga, suddenly the narrative became tighter. The Prequel Trilogy wasn't about the Clone Wars, it was about Anakin, while having continuity filling episodes distracted from the Skywalking focus.