Facts Star Wars Producers Hid From Fans

When Darth Vader speaks, we hear James Earl Jones—but in the original Star Wars trilogy, the physical part was played by David Prowse, the bodybuilder who was actually inside the suit. For A New Hope, Prowse actually recorded every bit of Vader's dialogue, but fans can now only hear this very different Vader (nicknamed "Darth Farmer" by Carrie Fisher due to his accent) in outtakes and documentaries.

Given the length of time he played the character, it made sense for Prowse to be revealed when Luke Skywalker removed Vader's helmet in Return of the Jedi. Instead, Sebastian Shaw got the honors during Vader's brief moment of honest-to-goodness face time. For years, the easiest way for fans to see Prowse was to catch one of his appearances at sci-fi conventions, but even that's harder than it might sound: Prowse and George Lucas had a falling out, and he's reportedly been banned from official Star Wars fan conventions and events.

This next one is something of a deep dive: who's the other hope for the galaxy that Yoda mentions? Fans sometimes conflate this with Yoda's deathbed confession of the identity of Leia, when he tries to say "there is another Skywalker," a message clarified by Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, in Empire Strikes Back, a concerned Kenobi watches Luke blasting away from Dagobah and proclaims "That boy is our last hope," and Yoda replies "No, there is another."

It may seem cut and dry that Yoda is referring to Leia, but it really isn't. Remember, Obi-Wan knows about the existence of Leia, yet he didn't bother to oversee her or train her, and seems to discount her when he says Luke is their "last hope." It seems unlikely that Yoda, who has far less of a relationship with Leia and her family than Kenobi, would suddenly think she was a hope for the galaxy. The original screenplay for Empire Strikes Back, based on a story treatment by Lucas, also mentioned an entirely different twin sister for Luke. Later, Empire producer Gary Kurts told TheForce.net that Leia wasn't meant to be Luke's sister and they planned for Luke to meet this new character in a later film. Where does that leave us? Yoda's "there is another" remains ambiguous. Was it the original twin sister we'll never meet? Was it someone we already know? As with many Star Wars mysteries, Lucas' lips are sealed.

Star Wars generated political controversy in 2016 when the two writers of Rogue One, Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz, argued that the Empire represents a white supremacist movement that's notably opposed by a multicultural group that is led by a woman, and later changed their icons to Rebel insignia with safety pins, a sign of their commitment to issues of social justice and equality. The social media feedback was swift, with conservatives loudly voicing their opposition to Star Wars suddenly becoming political. Here's the secret, though: it always was.

According to a Lucas biographer, the first Star Wars was conceived in part as a sci-fi commentary on the Vietnam War, and make no mistake: America was the Empire, as Lucas was concerned with portraying "a large technological empire going after a small group of freedom fighters." If that sounds farfetched, Lucas doubled down on this idea in Return of the Jedi by deliberately modeling the Ewoks after the Viet Cong to show their triumph over their technologically superior foe, going out of his way to make them cute teddy bears kids could root for. Politics were still kicking around in the prequels, too, with many people noting that evil Anakin's "if you're not with me, you're my enemy" sounded a lot like George W. Bush. While Obi-Wan argued that "only a Sith deals in absolutes," both of them seemed to invite comparison to Bush's proclamation of "you're with us, or you're with the terrorists."

When Han Solo died in The Force Awakens, many fans were shocked at this tragic turn of events. Some were even angry at Disney and the new Star Wars creative team for daring to kill such a beloved member of the original trilogy. Here's the secret, though: Han Solo nearly died decades ago, and Harrison Ford was the reason why.

Everyone remembers Han Solo being frozen in carbonite at the end of Empire Strikes Back and assumes that was always part of the plot. This wasn't the case, though—original drafts of the story included Han escaping with the others. What happened? Ford, unlike his younger co-stars, had refused to sign a multi-film contract, and was already making noise about not wanting to return. The carbonite freeze basically gave the writers the option to go either way with the sequel; if Ford backed out, Solo could be found dead, and if he renewed, he'd be revived. Later, Ford pushed for Han to die heroically in Return of the Jedi, but Lucas and the writers kept him alive. Thus, that "surprising" character death was actually Ford getting what he'd wanted for decades.

It's tough to imagine the original Star Wars as anything other than an instant classic. It changed everything about the modern blockbuster, and its influences are still being felt. Many fans assume Lucas just got it right, and wonder what happened with the prequels. Here's the dirty secret, though: the original Star Wars was almost completely saved in editing—and by an entirely different Lucas.

Some of the raw footage from Star Wars can be viewed on the Empire of Dreams documentary, and it's rough, bearing little resemblance to the quality and polish of the eventual movie. Much of the editing was done by Marcia Lucas, George's wife at the time—and she wasn't just editing, she also altered the story throughout the entire filming process. She convinced George to keep human elements, such as Leia kissing Luke for luck, and also re-ordered shot after shot of the Death Star trench run until it reached a level of tense perfection. (Unfortunately for the prequels, the Lucases divorced in 1983.)

Ever had that double-take moment when you watch a really old movie and you have to sit through a bunch of credits at the beginning? It seems weird and antiquated now, but it was once simply how things were done in Hollywood. George Lucas is the reason all of that changed, and he paid a relatively high price to do so.

Whatever critics may think of Lucas, he's always had a sense of presentation. He insisted on moving the credits for all of his Star Wars movies to the end rather than the beginning, thus letting moviegoers jump right from the "Long time ago" to the dramatic opening crawl. This angered the writers' and directors' guilds, and while they let it slide on the first Star Wars movie (assuming, like many, that it would be a flop), they fined Lucas $250,000 when he pulled the stunt again on Empire Strikes Back. This was actually a hefty sum (nearly half of what 20th Century Fox wanted to pay Lucas for directing the first movie, and that amount was considered generous), and Lucas burned bridges with these guilds along with the Motion Picture Association of America, which actually affected who he could hire for Return of the Jedi and other films. Ultimately, however, he had the last laugh, as his gutsy move became the default in Hollywood.