The Star Wars franchise under George Lucas has accumulated a massive fan base over four decades. And undoubtedly the movies have always mesmerized audiences with their epic battles and captivating storylines. But among all the installments, Return of the Jedi is the only movie that had the happiest ending.
But here’s a shocking fact about that particular movie that made heads turn. According to George Lucas, he had an alternate ending in his mind for Return of the Jedi, that was extremely dark. Lucas had pitched a seriously grim finale showing Mark Hamill’s character, Luke Skywalker turning into the new Darth Vader by the end of the movie.
George Lucas Had an Alternate Ending for Return of the Jedi
Without a doubt, in the whole Star Wars franchise, Return of the Jedi has one of the happiest endings of all time. The singing and dancing Ewoks, the emotional reunion of the film’s main characters, and the defeat of the dark side are by far the best finale that audiences could ever have.
However, shockingly it wasn’t the original ending as planned by George Lucas. Apparently, Lucas had different plans as the original script stated, that the film was supposed to have a much evil and darker ending. According to J.W. Rinzler’s behind-the-scenes tell-all The Making of Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi via ComicBookMovie, the original ending would have changed the entire franchise.
“Luke takes his mask off. The mask is the very last thing—and then Luke puts it on and says, ‘Now I am Vader.’ Surprise! The ultimate twist. ‘Now I will go and kill the [Rebel] fleet and I will rule the universe.’”
George Lucas pitched an evil ending to co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, stating how Mark Hamill’s character Luke Skywalker would turn into the new Darth Vader.
Also read: Darth Vader Actor Was Criminally Underpaid, James Earl Jones Earned Only $7000 For Star Wars
George Lucas Avoided His Grim Finale for The Sake Of Kids
Lucas’ idea was commendable and was highly appreciated by co-writer Lawrence Kasdan, who even shared, “That’s what I think should happen”. But unfortunately, in the end, the idea of an alternate ending was never implemented by George Lucas. He eventually decided to go in a different way, which showed the trilogy ends on a happy note with the Dark Side defeated and our favorite characters surviving.
According to The Making of Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, George Lucas felt like Mark Hamill‘s character Luke Skywalker, going evil was a bit too dark. Further because the Star Wars franchise “is for kids” Lucas dropped his original idea and moved ahead with what we see today as the happy ending.
While the final ending turned out well for the franchise, it’s fascinating to wonder how different things would have been, if George Lucas had implemented his original idea. Certainly, Star Wars would have turned extremely grim and depressing. Perhaps it’s for the best that Lucas scrapped the idea.
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