8 Scenes That Would Have Ruined The Original Star Wars Trilogy

2. The Resurrection Of Obi-Wan Kenobi - Return Of The Jedi

There are some deleted moments that are so ill-judged that you genuinely wonder why anybody thought they were feasible in the first place: this is one of them. At one time, then, George Lucas planned for Luke Skywalker's former master Obi-Wan Kenobi to come back to life. Like, for real. The scene in question would have seen Luke waking up in prison to find Old Ben in the same room, but not as a Force Ghost. At this point, Obi-Wan tells Luke that he decided he couldn't stay as a mere apparition and made the choice to come back into his body in order to aid Luke in his quest to save the galaxy. From the original draft script, here's Obi Wan's dialogue cue as he returns to life:
"I could no longer stay in the netherworld. And I am here to help you destroy the Emperor, and... your father."
There's no doubt that, had this moment been included, fans would have been seriously peeved at Lucas' decision to resurrect a character who was clearly deceased. Obi-Wan died in A New Hope, after all - we saw him perish at the hands of Darth Vader, and you can't just bring a guy back to life two films later on a whim. Not only did this scene make no sense, but it would have brought nothing to Return of the Jedi had it been implemented - or the saga on the whole.
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Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.