George Lucas had an idea while writing Star Wars Episode I: The Phanom Menace that would have blown Obi-Wan’s famous ‘from a certain point of view’ line out of the water.
So, fans well know by this stage that when they reach Naboo, Jedi Knight Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) come face-to-face with Sith Lord Darth Maul (Ray Park) and after an epic battle, Maul kills Qui-Gon and is then defeated – cut in two – by Kenobi.
However, that original idea from Lucas was going to be very different and might have been inspired by a famous line from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
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In a recent interview, storyboard artist Iain Craig revealed that in the original plan was for Obi-Wan to die! What? But, Obi-Wan is in the original trilogy, we know he can’t die, so how?
Well, Lucas had a cool idea for that.
“For a time,” Craig says, “the older Jedi was named Obi-Wan and the younger Jedi was named Qui-Gon.
“It was very poignant that at the end, as Obi-Wan dies and Qui-Gon defeats Darth Maul and stays with his Master as he passes away, he not only takes on his Master’s quest, but he takes on his name… Qui-Gon becomes Obi-Wan.”
Wait, that’s actually kinda cool and it makes Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan’s line about his name in A New Hope take on a whole new layer.
Craig goes on: “That’s why when you see Alec Guinness in ‘A New Hope,’ he puts his hood down and goes, ‘Obi-Wan? Now that’s a name I’ve not heard…’” McCaig added, “because he’s not Obi-Wan, he’s Qui-Gon. And right at the end, George changed it.”
Look, this is actually a really cool twist and would have given Kenobi a whole new layer that fans could have debated about and Lucasfilm could have commissioned 50 novels and comic series over but ultimately, I like that Lucas changed his mind at the end.
Still, it’s good to know that Lucas was always playing with ideas that would challenge the story and characters and make the fans think about their favourite franchise in a whole new light.
Thoughts? I know you have them…
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Source: Variety
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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