STAR WARS: 5 Awesome (And 3 Awful) Ideas George Lucas CUT From The Prequel Trilogy

When George Lucas set out to make the Star Wars prequels, he had a lot of wild ideas which failed to make it to the big screen. Some were great, and a few were dreadful, but you need to know about these...

By JoshWilding - Mar 31, 2024 04:03 AM EST

Filed Under: Star Wars

For a time, the Star Wars prequels were considered a low point for this beloved franchise. The sequels have since become even more divisive among fans, of course, and the kids who grew up watching The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith have helped changed the narrative.

These days, Hayden Christensen is widely praised for his work as Anakin Skywalker, while even longtime fans have grown to appreciate the ground broken by filmmaker George Lucas in terms of the technology he pioneered.

While developing these movies, the writer and director came up with a long list of ideas, many of which never made it to the screen. Now, we've rounded up a mixture of awesome and awful concepts cut from the prequel trilogy, including scrapped origins, major plot twists, and developments capable of changing the foundations of this series as we know it.

To read through this breakdown, all you need to do is click on the "Next" button below.

8. Anakin Skywalker's Extended Family - AWFUL

How-Old-Is-Boba-Fett-In-The-Book-Of-Boba-Fett-The-Mandalorian-And-Rest-Of-The-Star-Wars-00-1-copy

The Phantom Menace strongly hinted that there might be something strange about Anakin's birth and the similarities to the immaculately conceived Jesus were impossible to ignore.

The plan had been to eventually reveal that Emperor Palpatine created the young Skywalker through the Force, manipulating events to ensure he'd eventually have an immensely powerful Sith by his side. In fact, Lucas even considered repurposing the "I am your father" line for this big reveal!

Thankfully, the filmmaker came to the conclusion it was too convoluted. At another point, Lucas also thought about revealing Anakin and Boba Fett were biological brothers; that also felt too contrived and would have surely been widely ridiculed.

7. Revenge of the Sith's Alternate Title - AWESOME

While Lucas went into the prequel trilogy with a rough idea of where he wanted the story to go, he was once again very much making it up as he went.

Before settling on Episode III's title, Revenge of the Sith, the filmmaker considered other options. The Creeping Fear was one, and that was later announced as the movie's moniker as part of an April Fool's Day joke! On a more serious note, he also mulled over Rise of the Empire and Birth of the Empire.

Both would have worked well, though we'd say Lucas' throwback to Return of the Jedi's original title - Revenge of the Jedi - ended up being a pretty cool name for this trilogy's finale.

6. Han Solo's Origin Story - AWESOME

solo-a-star-wars-story-1600b-1525738492616

Talking of Revenge of the Sith, with the prequels now just 20 years away from A New Hope, Lucas started thinking about ways to connect the two trilogies.

He decided fairly early on to feature Chewbacca and intended to reveal that an orphaned Han Solo was being raised by the Wookie on Kashyyyk. The future smuggler was going to help repel the attacking clones but the director decided there wasn't room and ditched the idea of these two having a father/son relationship.

Interestingly, an adult Lando Calrissian cameo was also briefly considered before it was widely decided it didn't really make sense in terms of the franchise's timeline.

5. Qui-Gon Jinn's Extended Role - AWESOME

While Qui-Gon Jinn's death in The Phantom Menace still stings, it paved the way for Obi-Wan Kenobi to take Anakin Skywalker as his Padawan. Many feel the boy's turn to the Dark Side began with that loss and early plans called for Qui-Gon to play a larger role beyond his death.

One idea had been for Qui-Gon to appear as a Force Ghost, attempting to stop the child he once met on Tatooine from embracing the way of the Sith.

The Clone Wars ended up putting a slightly different spin on the idea, but we didn't get to see Qui-Gon again in live-action until last year's Obi-Wan Kenobi (Lucas was who originally decided to have the Jedi Master teach both Yoda and Ben how to defeat death).

4. Anakin Skywalker vs. Greedo - AWFUL

By now, many of you might have already decided that all these scrapped ideas were terrible, but this one - while largely harmless on the surface - feels really forced.

In a deleted scene from The Phantom Menace (yes, this was actually shot), a brief tussle ensues when a young Greedo accuses Anakin of cheating in the podrace. The alien loses this fight and his friends joking point out that his attitude could mean he'll one day come to a "bad end."

It's just too on the note, even if it isn't quite as much of a reach as Anakin being Threepio's creator! That was quite enough for this movie, though, and we'd say the young Greedo being cut was for the best.

3. Boba Fett's Revenge - AWESOME

These days, Boba Fett is a beloved anti-hero and is portrayed as such in Disney+'s Star Wars offerings. However, on his way to becoming the badass bounty hunter we first met in The Empire Strikes Back, Fett was going to deliver a crushing blow to the Jedi.

Mace Windu beheaded Boba's father in Attack of the Clones and the teenager was set to take his revenge in Episode III.

Working with Count Dooku and his Separatists, Fett was going to kill Mace for what he'd done in the previous film. Instead, his quest for vengeance was largely relegated to The Clone Wars and Windu died at the hands of Anakin and Palpatine.

2. Gungan Genocide - AWFUL

Look, we get it, you probably don't like Jar Jar Binks. It's true the Gungan was irritating and Lucas obviously never anticipated such a surge of hatred from older fans.

As a result, Jar Jar's role after The Phantom Menace was greatly reduced. Perhaps we'd all have had a little more empathy for the Gungan if the director had followed through on plans for the Separatist droids to lay waste to his home, massacring Jar Jar's people before Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ever set foot in the city.

Lucas, who remains firm in his belief that Star Wars is primarily aimed at children, understandably came to the conclusion this was simply too dark for the movie.

1. A Female Darth Maul - AWESOME

Despite having literally just minutes of screentime, Darth Maul remains one of the Star Wars franchise's most beloved villains. For hardcore fans, his story continued in The Clone Wars and Rebels. However, for those who only saw him once, the character's impact has still been significant.

Interestingly, he was very nearly a she.

For a time, Lucas had plans for Maul to be a woman. Maggie Cheung wasn't cast but is believed to have served as inspiration for this iteration of the Sith warrior. We're not sure why this didn't happen as it would have been a blast to see the Star Wars franchise get a significant female baddie.

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1 Comments

DravenCorvis - 3/31/2024, 4:42 PM

You posted this last August.

https://comicbookmovie.com/sci_fi/star-wars/star-wars-5-great-ideas-george-lucas-cut-from-the-prequel-trilogy-and-3-which-sucked-a205255

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STAR WARS: 5 Awesome (And 3 Awful) Ideas George Lucas CUT From The Prequel Trilogy

When George Lucas set out to make the Star Wars prequels, he had a lot of wild ideas which failed to make it to the big screen. Some were great, and a few were dreadful, but you need to know about these...

8. Anakin Skywalker's Extended Family - AWFUL

7. Revenge of the Sith's Alternate Title - AWESOME

6. Han Solo's Origin Story - AWESOME

5. Qui-Gon Jinn's Extended Role - AWESOME

4. Anakin Skywalker vs. Greedo - AWFUL

3. Boba Fett's Revenge - AWESOME

2. Gungan Genocide - AWFUL

1. A Female Darth Maul - AWESOME

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