8 Star Wars Prequel Moments George Lucas Planned Way Back In 1977

3. R2-D2 Was Originally A Ship Repair Droid

"Artoo-Detoo's function is to be a repair robot. His primary function is to maintain the plumbing system of the ship." - C-3PO

In the original trilogy, astromech droids come across as the galaxy's version of a Swiss Army Knife. They can store data, fit perfectly into various designs of space fighters, can access any information port and even have a periscope. But while R2 developed into a real, but non-irritating deux ex machina, the original blueprints were always in Lucas' mind.

When we first meet R2-D2 in The Phantom Menace he's a repair droid on a Naboo cruiser and that's exactly what his primary function was always intended to be; according to 3PO, he is sent to the outside of the ship to fix various systems.

That's one of many examples of Lucas showing really strong understanding of the intricacies of his new universe. Not simply answering queries with space mumbo-jumbo, things are explained with historical accuracy and in-depth terminology; that the Millennium Falcon was built on Crell for Corellian space shippers, or that C-3PO got a new XB21 upgrade after the Battle of Yavin are needlessly in-depth, while Han's backstory (he was was a slave, raised by travellers) is incredibly fleshed out.

You sense there was real desire to get a Tolkien-level continuity for the galaxy far, far away, with as much time devoted to the little details as the broad strokes. That's pretty emblematic of Star Wars on the whole, at it's best never letting the grand space epic overshadow the characters.