5 Ideas For 'Return Of The Jedi' That Made Their Way Into The Sequel Trilogy
The Star Wars saga has had several ideas that never made to the final cut, as is the case with many movies. That didn’t stop Lucasfilm from recycling some of those ideas and putting them in their newer films. For example, many of the old ideas for the first end of the Star Wars saga, Return of the Jedi, found their way into the sequel trilogy. Despite not having the maker around, his legacy and the legacy of choices not made in the original trilogy still hold influence over the story being made today. Here are five ideas that finally had their time in the sun when Episodes VII, VIII, and IX were released.
Palpatine’s Exegol Throne
Star Wars is known to have had a lot of concept art over its many years, with many of the great works coming from the one and only Ralph McQuarrie, who did many concept pieces for Star Wars during the original trilogy. One of these pieces that was recycled for the sequel trilogy is Palpatine's throne on Exegol. The design itself is based off of Ralph McQuarrie's artwork from Return of the Jedi. In some of the earlier drafts of the story when the film was called Revenge of the Jedi, Luke would not go just to the Death Star, but to the Emperor’s own lair at the Imperial Capital, back then called Had Abbadon. Of course, these concepts remained concepts until The Rise of Skywalker, where we saw the design of the Exegol throne which was clearly based off this illustration. This shows us that just because a concept was never used for one movie, that does not mean it will not see the light of day in another.
Kylo as Supreme Leader
Now this link to an old idea is a bit more subtle, but the idea of a Skywalker actually becoming the true leader of the Imperial forces is not new. It has been said that, back when ideas were being pitched for Revenge of the Jedi, there was an idea for a darker ending in which Luke takes on the mantle of Darth Vader and Emperor of the Empire. Of course, the idea was quickly scrapped in favor of a more heroic send-off to the main character of the original trilogy. However, this idea did see the light of day in a more subtle way when Kylo Ren killed Snoke and took on the mantle of Supreme Leader of the First Order. By becoming Supreme Leader, he essentially not only managed to become the next spiritual Darth Vader, but in some ways the de-facto leader of the Empire, now known as The First Order.
Somber Endings
The original ending of Return of the Jedi was not always a happy dance party on Endor. In the early days of what was still called Revenge of the Jedi, there was talk of wanting to end the original trilogy like an old western, with Luke Skywalker alone and walking off into the sunset, off to do who knows what. A more somber ending to what would have been a more somber film at the end before George Lucas wanted to end the trilogy on a happy high note. However, the idea of a bittersweet ending would not go away. This somber ending to a trilogy was sort of recycled via Rey, with her new yellow lightsaber, looking out onto the horizon with BB-8 and whatever new adventures await.
Jedi Master Leia
The idea of “The Other” has been part of Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back. The original, original idea was Luke’s twin sister who was being trained as a Jedi halfway across the galaxy. By the time of Return of the Jedi, it was Leia who was the sister, but sadly, due to lack of time, we never saw her as a Jedi. At least, not until The Rise of Skywalker! Episode IX shows us Leia being trained as a Jedi by Luke, and also being Rey’s Master at the start of the film. We see Jedi Master Leia Organa Solo at last.
Han’s Death
It's a tale as old as time among fans who knew the behind the scenes details of Star Wars, but one of the biggest things about Return of the Jedi that never got done was the death of Han Solo. Harrison Ford and writer Lawrence Kasdan both felt that the character should die, but were vetoed by George Lucas, who wished for a more optimistic fairy tale ending to his trilogy. When Episode VII came along and Harrison Ford returned, Lawrence Kasdan was writing, and with no George around, that dream of killing off Han finally came true. The Force Awakens killed off Han Solo by his own son's hands, and it turned into one of the most impactful scenes in the entire movie, thus proving that, sometimes, if an idea is not used, that doesn’t mean the idea is dead, but rather that it just needs the right story to use it.