When George Lucas’ prequel trilogy supplementing the Star Wars saga initially hit theaters, fans were up in arms. However, in the years since, the prequels have been somewhat forgiven and vindicated. Part of the reason why they hold up so well is that Lucas knew where the story was heading when he started.
Going into the sequel trilogy, Disney, Kathleen Kennedy, and their cavalcade of talent didn’t have a clue where it was going, and the result was a disjointed mess. By comparison, the prequels look like a product of Shakespearean genius. Lucas went through many different concepts and story drafts for the prequels, so here are his 10 best unused ideas from the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Palpatine Created Anakin Skywalker
In The Phantom Menace, Shmi Skywalker tells Qui-Gon Jinn that Anakin just magically appeared in her womb one day, so he was a virgin birth, like Jesus. Originally, during the scene in Revenge of the Sith in which Palpatine tells Anakin about “the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise,” he would’ve revealed that he manipulated the midichlorians in Shmi’s womb to create him. Effectively, he was Anakin’s father.
George Lucas cut this reveal, because he thought it was just repeating the “I am your father” twist from The Empire Strikes Back, but it certainly would’ve made sense for Palpatine to use the Force to create the perfect apprentice.
Boba Fett’s Revenge
After watching his dad get decapitated by Mace Windu during the Battle of Geonosis in Attack of the Clones, Boba Fett doesn’t reappear in the Skywalker saga until Darth Vader hires him to track down the Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back.
However, he was originally slated to appear as a teenager in Revenge of the Sith. He’d be working with the Separatists, under Count Dooku, and in one pivotal scene, he would’ve exacted revenge against Windu by snuffing him out. In the final film, Windu is killed by Palpatine as Anakin takes his final steps to the dark side, but that would’ve presumably been shuffled around if Fett appeared.
Jar Jar’s Pet
While George Lucas insists he’s his own favorite character, Jar Jar Binks is perhaps the most hated character in the history of Star Wars. Originally, he was going to have an attention-seeking pet “blarth” who sounds like a lot more fun than Jar Jar himself.
This pet “blarth” would’ve had the behavior and mannerisms of a dog, and it would be responsible for even more accidental disasters than Jar Jar.
Episode III Being Called Birth Of The Empire
When George Lucas was working on the third prequel, he had a tough time coming up with the right title. Before settling on Revenge of the Sith, which was a reference to Return of the Jedi’s original title Revenge of the Jedi (which was changed when Lucas decided that a true Jedi would not be interested in revenge), a few titles were considered.
These included The Creeping Fear (which was announced as the real title in an April Fool’s joke), Rise of the Empire, and Birth of the Empire. While Revenge of the Sith is an exciting title, Birth of the Empire would’ve been a great title for the bridge between the prequel and original trilogies.
Yoda’s Exile On Dagobah
As with a lot of trilogies, the Star Wars prequel trilogy’s final chapter, Revenge of the Sith, ends with a montage showing us where all the characters ended up. For the most part, it’s just getting them in their starting positions ahead of the original trilogy: Leia is adopted by Bail Organa, Vader and the Emperor oversee construction of the Death Star, Obi-Wan drops off Luke with his aunt and uncle before exiling himself etc.
Originally, George Lucas included a scene showing Yoda’s arrival on Dagobah, but cut it to maintain the focus on the Skywalkers. It would’ve been a neat way to fill in a little story gap, but maybe Lucas was right about keeping it focused.
Female Darth Maul
The villain of The Phantom Menace, who eventually evolved into softly spoken, tattoo-covered Sith Lord Darth Maul, was initially conceived as a female character.
Maggie Cheung from the Police Story franchise was being considered to play the role, with her photo being pinned up on the casting wall during pre-production.
Extermination Of The Gungans
Upon arrival in Naboo in The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn go with Jar Jar Binks to the underwater city where the Gungans live. In the original script, when they got there, they found that the Gungans had all been massacred by the droids.
This was cut, because it was deemed too dark. But The Phantom Menace could’ve used a little more darkness – especially when it came to the Gungans. It also would’ve given Qui-Gon more of a reason to sympathize with Jar Jar and keep him around beyond inexplicably finding him charming.
Explaining The Kamino Mystery
After the release of Attack of the Clones, George Lucas promised fans that he would explain why Kamino was removed from the Jedi Archives.
However, during the writing process for Revenge of the Sith, Lucas streamlined the story to keep the focus on Anakin’s journey, and the Kamino storyline was dropped.
Young Han Solo On Kashyyyk
In early drafts of Revenge of the Sith, a 10-year-old Han Solo appeared on Kashyyyk. This would’ve revealed the character’s backstory as a Corellian orphan who was raised by Chewbacca on the Wookiees’ home world.
This would’ve recontextualized the characters’ relationship from a man-and-his-dog dynamic to a sort of father-son bond, which may have been controversial among some fans, but it could’ve given extra emotional depth to one of the Star Wars universe’s most beloved duos.
Qui-Gon’s Force Ghost Appears To Anakin
When he was writing Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas initially planned to have Liam Neeson reprise his role as Qui-Gon Jinn in the form of a Force ghost appearing to Anakin in a futile attempt to sway him from turning to the dark side.
In the finished movie, Qui-Gon doesn’t appear, but Yoda claims that, from beyond the grave, Qui-Gon has taught him how to return as a Force ghost, and can teach the same to Obi-Wan. It would’ve been a lot more satisfying to see Qui-Gon return to try to clean up the mess he started.