A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was an iconic image from Star Wars which has been ingrained into the collective pop culture memory. But what if we told you this still which everyone and their dog recalls was never actually in the film?
1977’s Star Wars is possibly the single most influential film ever made. Completely reinventing science fiction, fantasy, and blockbuster entertainment all in one, you cannot escape its impact anywhere in pop culture or even in day-to-day life. So much comes back to George Lucas’s original film, it’s the Citizen Kane of its generation with how it changed filmmaking.
There’s one particular still you’ve almost certainly seen. Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo all aboard the Death Star following their daring rescue of the princess. This single still is maybe the most commonly used one for articles discussing the film and its legacy. But it was never in the film.
This is one of the many publicity stills taken during production. In between filming and setting up shots, photographers are often on set to take a few snaps which can then be distributed to media outlets to get the word out. This is one of those, as is the famous shot of Han and Chewbacca side-by-side.
Another famous one is the reverse angle of Luke staring off into the binary suns of Tatooine, which is also so commonly used. These aren’t really Mandela effects though — such a thing isn’t real. The term is used to cover up memory conformity and social contagion of thought.
The other popular misconception from the series is the famous line uttered by Darth Vader to Luke on Cloud City, “Luke, I am your father”. In reality, his line is “No, I am your father”. This particular mishap of memory likely comes down to parodies getting it wrong, and home video not being as popular then as it is today.
The entire Star Wars saga is available to stream on Disney Plus.