Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Darth Vader

Regardless of David Prowse's understandable frustrations at being vocally passed up on in favour of the distinct sound of the legendary James Earl Jones, it's hard to imagine a world where the rumbling thespian didn't provide the audible foundations for one of the most recognisable figures in cinema history.

However, that unthinkable alternate reality wasn't actually as far away as you'd imagine, as it goes.

Upon deciding that he needed to swap out Prowse's less than intimidating Bristol accent for his incoming series, Lucas originally felt that movie titan Orson Welles' voice would be the perfect fit for the fearsome focal point of the series. Yet, it would soon become apparent to the mind behind the galaxy far, far away that the War of the Worlds and Citizen Kane star was a little too well known for his liking.

While it would've likely still made for a hell of a space-shaking turn to have Welles uttering Vader's thunderous dialogue, Earl Jones' consistently mesmerising voice work as the embodiment of darkness in the Skywalker Saga and other spin-offs more than justified Lucas' choice to not commit to an Orson Sith Lord.