The Star Wars franchise turns 50 in 2027, and the number of content fans have access to is only going to grow between now and then. Just this year, for instance, Disney+ has already released the limited Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and the newest Star Wars show Andor premieres on August 31st.
With all of that content, passed from writer to writer and brought to the screen by different directors and producers through the years, the continuity of the franchise has changed considerably. Redditors have taken note, pointing out the retcons they thought made the biggest changes to the Star Wars saga.
Who Shot First?
Redditor 4_20Blaziken puts it plainly: "Han Shot First!". In the original theatrical release of A New Hope, Han Solo is confronted by Greedo on behalf of Jabba the Hutt. After a brief argument about Han's outstanding debt, Han shoots Greedo and discreetly exits the cantina.
In the special edition of the film released in 1997, the scene is edited to show Greedo firing first, then Han firing in self-defense to kill Greedo. Many fans felt this spoiled Han's redemption arc throughout the trilogy, and obscures his character's history as a smuggler and true scoundrel.
A Star Wars Story attempts to fill in the mysterious background of Han Solo's life before ANH. There are a lot of hot takes about Solo abound, but one of the questions answered by the film is the origin of Solo's last name. It is simply assigned to him by an Imperial recruitment officer after Han says he has no family name, that he's "alone."
Redditor tornedron echoes many fans in not understanding this retcon, saying "I hate that Han got his iconic last name from some random unnamed Imperial officer, instead of it just being his birth name or something." In fact, in many Legend stories, the Solo name was prestigious on Corellia, and the change is one of the many reasons the movie fell flat with Star Wars fans.
Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber blew audiences minds when promotional material for The Phantom Menace first came out, and he's been a fan-favorite ever since. Though many fans felt Maul should just stay dead, he was indeed brought back for the Clone Wars, Rebels and a brief cameo in Solo.
His resurrection has been a source of debate ever since, and Redditor R520JR sums up both sides pretty well: "The best retcon is Darth Maul being alive because we got so much great content with him. The worst retcon is Darth Maul being alive because we now get Boba Fett surviving...it's all gonna make death feel cheap if it continues." Star Wars loves bringing characters back from the dead, so it's a trend that seems likely to continue.
Vader Screaming "No" During ROTJ
In the current streaming edition of Return of the Jedi, Vader watches his son being tortured by the Emperor. He says "No" to himself, before lifting the Emperor and yelling "Nooooooo!" as he casts him into the bowels of the Death Star.
This is a retcon of the original scene (in which Vader says nothing), and it's not a popular one at all. Redditor andurilmat explains that "Vader silent suffering as he watched Luke beg for help always felt much more meaningful to me." Benkenobi5 agrees, saying " It's clear through the body language that he's in conflict, and equally clear when he decides enough is enough."
How The Force Works
In ANH, Obi-Wan tells Luke that the Force is simply "an energy field" that surrounds all living things. It's a vague explanation, which is fitting given the mystical nature of the Force portrayed through the rest of the original films. However, as Redditor Hallow_Shinobi notes, the prequel films turn this mysticism on its head.
"Prequel retcons were almost exclusively for the worse tbh. Especially concerning how the force works," Shinobi notes, and many fans agree. In those films, it is stated that the Force is generated by microorganisms called Midi-Chlorians, which live in the bloodstream. It's one of the most-maligned parts of the prequel trilogy, offering an answer to a question many fans felt didn't need answering.
Giving Clones Inhibitor Chips
In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine orders Clone Commanders across the galaxy to turn on their Jedi allies and kill them all. Order 66 was simply a secret, compartmentalized order all Clones knew, but the Clone Wars cartoon retcons this in a big way, establishing that all clones had inhibitor chips installed in their brains to ensure they complied with orders.
Redditor mikachu93 likes the change, saying "It just doesn't make sense for these soldiers to make friends with the Jedi for three years then suddenly mow every last one of them down for 'traitorous acts." Clone Wars focused so heavily on the clones and made them such sympathetic characters, it had to offer an explanation for their sudden turn.
Snoke Goes From Villain To Puppet
Supreme Leader Snoke was one of the biggest mysteries of the sequel trilogy, the leader of the First Order, who gives Kylo Ren his marching orders. One of the main gripes with the sequels that fans have is the unraveling of that mystery into nothingness.
Redditor GroggyGolem sums up the complaints about this retcon, saying "Snoke was a puppet, Palpatine was always the big bad." It was a misdirect that lasted for essentially half the sequel trilogy, and in The Rise of Skywalker, it's revealed that Snoke was simply a clone made via Dark Side experimentation. He's turned into an afterthought before the audience's eyes, and it's a disappointing story beat.
Rey Being A Palpatine
The secret of Rey's origin is one of the driving narratives of the sequel trilogy, but the narrative is inconsistent between the three films. The first plays up the mystery, while the second suggests that it doesn't matter and a hero can come from anywhere. Then, the third reveals that Rey is the child of a Palpatine clone.
Redditor ThatMatthewKid feels this is a big retcon because it "was clearly not intended in TLJ". The Rise of Skywalker infamously saw director Colin Treverrow exit after nearly two years of work on his version of the film. Treverrow left some cool Star Wars ideas behind, and blame the lack of continuity between films on this change, believing it to be a big contributing factor to the final film feeling unoriginal and rushed.
Leia Remembering Her Mother
As Luke prepares to tell Leia they are brother and sister, he asks what memories she has of her mother. Leia replies that she has a few, but that her mother died when she was very young. That was all fans knew about the twin's mother until the prequel trilogy establishes her as Padme Amidala, a politician from Naboo.
The end of RoTS shows Padme dying almost immediately after giving birth. Redditor DudesRock91 doesn't care for it, noting it doesn't jibe with Leia's statement that "she knew her mom for a few years." It's a scene that hits differently after the Kenobi finale, where Obi-Wan gives Leia a few details about Padme she never would have had otherwise.
Darth Vader Being Anakin Skywalker
At the time of its 1977 release, Star Wars was not a fully formed story in George Lucas's head. Darth Vader was not originally intended to be Luke's father, he was meant simply to be a terrifying enforcer for the Emperor. When the film's popularity demanded a sequel, Lucas came up with a new backstory for Vader: he didn't kill Anakin, he is what Anakin became after his fall.
Redditor ThatOtherTwoGuy thinks it was not just a good, but a necessary change because it made Luke's transformation into a Jedi possible. "It was his compassion for his own father that redeemed Anakin and led to the death of Palpatine." The retcon does that, and a lot more. It turns a simple space opera into a family saga that spans decades, and it turned one movie into a sprawling franchise.