In 1977, everything changed thanks to a little film called Star Wars. George Lucas's opus not only took viewers by storm, but grabbed the whole world by the horns. Star Wars mania was inescapable, from the movie running in theaters for an ungodly amount of time to merchandise taking over store shelves. Two more films came out over the course of six years, completing the trilogy. Even after the story concluded and the hype died down, the franchise became a pop culture mainstay. If all media had concluded in 1983, the world would still fondly remember the trilogy.

Popular franchises can never be laid to rest, however, and Star Wars marched on. After 1983, there was a series of novels, the two televised Ewok films, and several video games. In 1999, fans got what they really wanted when George Lucas released the first film of his prequel trilogy. The initial response was overwhelmingly positive. A new Star Wars film was in theaters, what was there not to love? Audiences soon started noticing some cracks in the movie, however, realizing it wasn't quite up to the prior films' standards. Fans held out hope that the following two films would rectify The Phantom Menace's errors, but most agreed that the rest of the trilogy did not fare any better.

Fortunately, the franchise has since seen better days, with the new trilogy improving upon the early films, with The Clone Wars and Rebels giving people more quality stories in the universe. Even so, the prequels are here to stay, and are forever a part of the canon, for better or for worse. If we could go back and retcon certain parts of that trilogy, here are 10 things that would be on the chopping block.

Padme Losing The Will To Live

The last act of Revenge of the Sith sees Padme biting the dust. How exactly does her life end? She apparently loses the will to live.

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The Dr. Ball sketch from Robot Chicken perfectly encapsulates how ridiculous this idea is. Not only that, but she just gave birth to twins. Getting your heart broken and having your husband turn into an evil sith is a bummer, for sure, but you have two brand new kids to take care of.

Tatooine's Importance

For such a junky, forgettable place, Tatooine sure is important. A significant chunk of The Phantom Menace takes place on it, and the sequels revisit it several times. Isn't it a little obvious to hide Luke on the same planet his father grew up on? Wouldn't that be the first place he'd look, or are they trying the whole hiding in plain sight strategy? Countless planets exist in the galaxy, so they should have switched it up more.

Midi-Chlorians

Qui-Gon Jinn Counts Anakin's Midi-chlorians Star Wars The Phantom Menace

The Force is an inexplicable phenomenon; an energy which surrounds all living things, and only a select few have the ability to manipulate it. The Phantom Menace introduces Midi-chlorians, organisms within certain people that give them Force sensitivity.

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The idea was so ludicrous it was never brought up again, but the damage was already done.

Jar Jar Binks' Role

Jar Jar Binks is seen as one of the worst parts of The Phantom Menace. His comedic relief often gets in the way of the plot instead of providing a respite from tension, which is what the comedic relief traditionally does. His role is reduced in future films, but he still plays a vital part in the overall story. In Attack of the Clones, he encourages the Senate to vote for giving Palpatine emergency powers, something that would eventually lead to the republic's downfall.

Demystifying Boba Fett

Jango and Boba Fett Star Wars Photo

Part of what made Boba Fett so cool and interesting was how little the audience knew about him. All they had was a cool suit and a mysterious voice. Attack of the Clones lifts the veil, revealing that he is a clone and his father was also a bounty hunter.

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It's not an egregiously bad setup to the character, but it does take away from what made him so intriguing in the first place. Not everything needs to be explained, and it is sometimes better if it isn't.

Yoda Fighting

Yoda Lightsaber Impale in Revenge of the Sith

This one could perhaps still make it into the canon,  just off-screen. Seeing Yoda fight was something people thought they wanted but regretted when they saw how silly it looked.

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The technology just wasn't there yet to make a full body CGI look convincing enough. The Matrix Reloaded runs into this same problem.

Trade Disputes

Palpatine in Star Wars The Phantom Menace

Star Wars has always been good versus evil, using the simple conflict to explore deeper human emotions. The Phantom Menace muddies things up by introducing a dispute over trade tariffs, something that would most definitely hold the attention of every kid in the late '90s.

Cameos

commander gree chewbacca and yoda in revenge of the sith

From Chewbacca to Jabba the Hutt, some of the cameos just make the galaxy feel too small. They often don't contribute anything important to the story, instead of acting as nothing more than obvious fan service.

Darth Maul's Revival

Star Wars Rebels - Darth Maul from 'Holocrons of Fate'

Dart Maul was one of the coolest character's to come out of the prequels, so it makes sense that they would bring him back. It is obvious that this wasn't the plan initially, considering how definitive his fate is at the end of The Phantom Menace. If a redo was possible, his first defeat would probably have been less dramatic than literally getting cut in half and falling down an endless pit.

Anakin's Mysterious Conception

Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace.

In what seems like an attempt at some sort of Jesus analogy, Anakin's mother relays to Qui-Gon Jinn that her son does not have a father.

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The conclusion is that he was conceived by the Force. Some speculate that Darth Sidious did this, but no one can say for sure. Just give him a regular old dad and have the Force choose him afterward.