Did You Know Lucasfilm Actually Leaked Darth Vader Was Luke's Father Before 'The Empire Strikes Back' Came Out?
The second a fan is hooked by a show or movie, they are instantly trying to predict what happens next in the story out of sheer excitement and anticipation but are more often than not faced with a significant plot twist. But imagine finding out that the major plot twist to a major franchise was already revealed before it ever aired? Star Wars fans will be shocked to hear that the most iconic plot twist in all of cinematic history was leaked before the movie Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back officially aired on May 12th in 1980, and it was revealed intentionally.
Way back before the internet was even a thing, Star Wars managed to become a blockbuster hit with the premiere of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope on May 25th of, 1977. The trouble was the sequel wouldn't be able to air for another 3 years, and with social media decades in the future, the minds behind this growing franchise had to think on their feet for a way to keep up the anticipation.
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope was promoted mainly by word of mouth and at comic book conventions, but now they had a real fanbase who were already eager for the next film. So, they put their heads together and came up with a way to keep the fans interested by posting rumors both true and false in articles in Starlog Magazines, one of the most popular science fiction magazines at the time.
Starlog Magazine was a monthly science fiction magazine primarily focused on the Star Trek fandom before branching out to other franchises such as Star Wars. One of Lucasfilm's first fan relation officers, Craig Miller, played a big part in marketing Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back. His plan was to put together a list of rumors based on the upcoming movie and publish them for fans to see. Some of these rumors came from fans while some originated from him and his team, and just to keep things interesting, they put a disclaimer stating that some of these rumors were true while others were false, but he would never reveal which were true or false.
Some of the false rumors in the magazine claimed that Leia would choose Luke Skywalker over Han Solo, that the Millennium Falcon would accidentally time travel back to the Clone Wars, and the crew would have to fight beside Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke's father. Some of the actual facts among the list were Han Solo being frozen in carbonite, the introduction of Lando Calrissian, and the first appearance of Boba Fett since the Star Wars Holiday Special. But the biggest one, of course, was the big reveal that Darth Vader was, in fact, Luke Skywalker's father. In fact, the actor David Prowse got in trouble for revealing Vader's lineage in an interview.
By keeping fans guessing at what could be in store for Star Wars: Episode IV – The Empire Strikes Back, it kept fans excited to see the film even three years later. Releasing such significant details of a highly anticipated film was a considerable risk, but despite leaking the biggest twist fans could ever expect, the scene of Darth Vader revealing his identity to Luke Skywalker still came as a huge shock. That scene is well known not only by long-time fans but also by those who haven't seen a single film. Hidden in a list of rumors ranging from plausible to the insanely unlikely, it's no wonder Star Wars' big reveal wasn't ruined. This just shows that the saying rumors travel faster than the speed of light is truer than ever.
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Source(s): ScreenRant