Exactly how much of the Star Wars story George Lucas had planned out when he was writing (what would come to be known as) A New Hope has always been a matter for debate amongst fans. After all, the film was intended to be called Episode IV, which suggests he had some idea of its place in the wider saga. But this week, someone’s unearthed the revised fourth draft of the script on Reddit, which at least confirms that Luke and Leia were never originally intended to be twins.
After all, Mark Hamill’s character is described as:
The tremendous heat of two huge twin suns settle on a lone figure, Luke Skywalker, a farm boy with heroic aspirations who looks much younger than his eighteen years. His shaggy hair and baggy tunic give him the air of a simple but lovable lad with a prize-winning smile.
While Leia’s described as:
A beautiful young girl (about sixteen years old) stands in front of Artoo. Surreal and out of place, dreamlike and half hidden in the smoke, she finishes adjusting something on Artoo’s computer face, then watches as the little robot joins his companion.
Naturally, characters born two years apart can’t be twins. Comments on the post reveal several interesting things about Lucas’ plans for the Original Trilogy, too. Perhaps most instructive is that Lucas’ vision of the saga while writing A New Hope is spelt out very plainly by Obi-Wan: that the Jedi were guardians of the galactic republic until one of them turned to evil. This evil Jedi Darth Vader helped wipe out the Jedi (including Luke’s father) and went on to install the Galactic Empire as rulers of the galaxy (though this doesn’t quite explain why ‘Darth Vader’ is a mutated form of ‘Dark Father’).
Also interesting is an assertion that Luke and Leia weren’t brother and sister until Return of the Jedi was being written, with Yoda’s line in The Empire Strikes Back about there being “another” being something that Lucas hadn’t quite planned out yet. Then there’s the fact that in Jedi Leia says she remembers her mother, which she can’t have because she died soon after the twins were born in Revenge of the Sith. And then there’s also the awkward matter of them kissing each other in Empire…
Personally, I’m of the opinion that Lucas had some of the broad strokes of the future Star Wars sequels (and prequels) planned out, but when the scripts began to solidify, he modified his plans subtly to suit the stories.
What do you think, though? As always, feel free to chime in down below.