Original Jabba The Hutt From 'A New Hope' Has Been Made Canon
Did you know Jabba the Hutt was once a human instead of a giant slug creature? Like many things in Star Wars and the story of the franchise, things change and evolve with time. Concepts change, character design changes, and in other cases some characters are fused together to become a single character. The biggest example of course being Anakin and Darth Vader, obviously. Thus is the fluid nature of George Lucas’ creative process.
Well, back in the days of the original A New Hope, Jabba the Hutt was actually going to make an appearance. And no, he was not a giant slig creature. Instead he was a human with a fuzzy waist coat. The scene was shot but edited out in order to keep the character a mystery, and for pacing issues as well. It wasn’t needed and just regurgitated information that we already knew from Han’s confrontation with Greedo. The scene would then be revised later on for the Special Editions, as the now slug Jabba the Hutt was digitally put into the scene. Although there has been debate about the scene itself, something has recently been recycled from it.
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Yes, the original design for Jabba the Hutt has returned, albeit in the form of the comic page of Star Wars #16, and has been revamped as a brand new character. This once again shows that Star Wars loves to reuse old ideas from Lucas.
Right now in Star Wars comics, our heroes are going toe to toe with the underworld. Crimson Dawn is leading the charge. Han Solo is on auction, and of course the real Jabba the Hutt wants him back. Everyone is there to claim Han Solo from all the major crime families. There is also Sly Moore, who is representing the Empire, and then finally Darth Vader, who isn’t interested in auctioning and is merely attacking the place and trying to take Solo by force. This causes a major panic among the criminal gangs. Our heroes are trying to use this as an opportunity to rescue Han, but to no avail. During the squabble, we see the human Jabba as part of the crowd joining in the fray.
Star Wars is a unique franchise that has changed and evolved over time. Once upon a time, Anakin and Darth Vader were two separate people. Palpatine was not a Sith Lord but just a regular politician. The clones were once the enemy of the Jedi. All of this would change and evolve as George Lucas made Star Wars and began changing things that he had originally intended, for change is a big part of any major franchise.
It is bizarre to think of Jabba the Hutt as being a human instead of a big space slug. So much of Star Wars is based on designs. Get a design wrong and it could all fall apart. Of course, as with the history of Star Wars, Jabba is part of this. It would be fascinating to live in a world where when one thinks of the infamous crime boss, he isn’t a giant slug, but just a regular guy with a big overcoat. As interesting as that sounds, it doesn’t really strike the imagination. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean a design is gone
Things change and evolve in Star Wars; it is the creative way. Some creative things lead to better things, but older stuff still finds its way back into the world. For that the beauty of Star Wars is that nothing ever truly is gone. Every idea will find a place eventually, even if it’s in a comic book.
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Source(s): CBR