Star Wars‘ is truly trailblazing in visual sense, but John Williams’ music for Episode IV: A New Hope marked the beginning of something fresh. The legendary composer has created music for the adventures of dinosaur-filled islands (Jurassic Park), the intense realities of war (Saving Private Ryan), and the magical realms of wizards (Harry Potter) but nothing compares to his music for epic space battles (Star Wars).
Williams was requested to compose music for a film that would forever alter the landscape of filmmaking. The skilled composer matched director George Lucas’ vision with an opening theme that perfectly set the tone, grabbing viewers’ attention right from the start. But he would have almost made the same mistake as many Star Wars fans in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.
John Williams Almost Made Same Mistake as Star Wars Fans
Fans often found the relationship between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) confusing because they weren’t initially written as twins. Also, despite being siblings, they shared two lip kisses in the films—one for luck and the other to make Han jealous.
i’ve just seen a star wars spoiler..leia is luke’s sister wtf
— josh (@cmpilled) March 1, 2024
In the original trilogy, it’s revealed that Luke and Leia are siblings, a plot twist that wasn’t planned during the production of the first film. So, John Williams almost inadvertently hinted at a romantic connection between Luke and Leia in his music before this familial relationship was revealed. He told Variety:
“I mistakenly wrote a love theme for Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. I learned later that they were brother and sister, so it was an incestuous idea to have a love theme for them. But George never told us there was going to be a second film!”
The 52 Oscar nominated composer then changed the score, which won an Academy Award for Best Score and became some of the most important music in pop culture history.
He continued to compose for subsequent Star Wars films: The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and returned for The Force Awakens in 2015. Williams work extended to The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Rise of Skywalker, and the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney Plus.
George Lucas Had a Reason for Making Luke and Leia Twins
As per Screen Rant, George Lucas decided to make Luke and Leia twins for a reason, even if he didn’t plan it from the start. Luke found out Darth Vader was his father but still managed to stay calm.
Lucas needed a strong reason for Luke to lose control and attack Vader. He thought threatening Leia would make the most sense. Making Leia his sister would add more emotional intensity to the situation due to their family bond. This set up the prequel trilogy to show how harmful attachments can be, which, of course, it did.
In this moment, when Vader threatens Leia, Luke gets really angry and breaks his promise not to fight his father. It shows how attachments can mess up a Jedi’s path—a theme explored in Anakin’s story throughout the prequels.
Watch Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope on Disney+.
