When George Lucas’ Star Wars unexpectedly became the highest-grossing movie of all time, 20th Century Fox executives were clamoring for the first of many sequels. Lucas hired none other than Leigh Brackett, widely known as the “Queen of Space Opera,” to write the script for Star Wars II.
The full script can be read here. A lot of Brackett's ideas in this script did end up in the movie, but it’s quite interesting to see what Lucas tweaked during The Empire Strikes Back’s journey to the big screen.
A Love Triangle Between Luke, Leia & Han
According to the book The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, when George Lucas began mapping out the story for the first Star Wars sequel, his guide for the structure was his classic coming-of-age comedy American Graffiti: a main plot supported by three subplots.
One subplot that Lucas suggested was a love triangle between Luke, Leia, and Han inspired by Rhett Butler, Scarlett O’Hara, and Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. In the final cut, Luke’s involvement in the love triangle is reduced to Leia kissing him to make Han jealous.
Darth Vader Wasn’t Luke’s Father
The most crucial moment in The Empire Strikes Back is when Darth Vader has Luke backed out onto a ledge and tells him, “I am your father.” This line was never actually in any version of the script to preserve the surprise of the twist, but the original story didn’t have this shocking revelation at all.
In Brackett’s initial script, Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost appeared to Luke during his Jedi training and revealed a very different backstory: “When I saw the Empire closing in, I sent you away for your own safety.”
Lando Was A Clone
Now that the Clone Wars era has been fleshed out by three movies, an acclaimed animated series, and countless books, comics, and video games, Star Wars fans are pretty well-versed in how the conflict panned out.
But back when Brackett wrote Star Wars II, all that existed of the Clone Wars was a throwaway line by Ben Kenobi in the original movie. In Brackett’s script, Lando was “a clone of the Ashardi family.”
Luke Was Actually “Knighted”
In the final version of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke cuts his Jedi training short to save Han and Leia because he senses they’re in danger. Yoda warns him not to face Vader as he’s not ready, but Luke ignores his advice.
In Brackett’s original script, Luke actually completed his training before facing Vader. Yoda and the Force ghosts of Obi-Wan and Anakin physically “knight” Luke with their lightsabers and present him with one last test to become a full-fledged Jedi: defeat Vader.
It Introduced The Administrative Center Of The Empire
After the original movie took audiences to Tatooine, Yavin 4, and the Death Star, The Empire Strikes Back explored even more curious new worlds: Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin, the mouth of an exogorth, and more.
Brackett’s script introduced one more planet: Ton Muund, described as “the administrative center of the Empire.” In the final movie, all the Empire’s operations take place aboard their fleet of Star Destroyers. Brackett wrote of the proposed administration planet, “Ton Muund should have an odd sort of day; perhaps a blue star.”
Han’s Cliffhanger Involved His Stepdad, Not Carbonite
Both Lucas and Brackett were interested in fleshing out Han’s backstory in the Star Wars sequel. In the final movie, that takes the form of Han reaching out to his old frenemy Lando, but Lucas considered revealing that Han was raised by Wookiees.
Brackett’s version of the script revealed Han’s stepfather Ovan Marekal to be the head of the Transport Guild and one of the most powerful figures in the galaxy. Leia tried to convince Han to get in touch with his stepdad and ask for his assistance with the Rebels’ cause. The script ends with Han leaving to find Ovan, which would’ve been a much lower-stakes cliffhanger than being frozen in carbonite and shipped off to be hung on a gangster’s wall.
Luke Didn’t Lose A Hand
Luke and Vader’s climactic showdown in The Empire Strikes Back takes place in the carbonite freezing chamber, but since there was no carbonite freezing in Brackett’s original draft, her version of the showdown takes place in Vader’s Cloud City apartment.
In this version of the fight, Luke is still hopelessly defeated by Vader and narrowly avoids falling to his death, but young Skywalker gets to keep both of his hands.
The Names Are All Different
While Brackett’s Star Wars II script has characters and planets that fans can recognize from the final movie, a lot of the names are different. Lando Calrissian was originally called Lando Kadar. Yoda was originally known as “Buffy,” which is apparently short for “Bunden Debannen.” That name was eventually changed to “Minch Yoda,” before being shortened to just “Yoda.”
The “ice planet” in the opening set piece remains unnamed in the script, while the planet that houses Cloud City, now known as Bespin, is referred to as Hoth.
Vader’s Castle
In Brackett’s Star Wars II script, Darth Vader doesn’t do much except try to lure in Luke across the void of the Force. He spends the majority of the story at his isolated gothic castle, where he feeds his pet gargoyles out of a golden bowl.
The final version of the movie gave Vader more physical involvement in the search for the Falcon. Star Wars fans wouldn’t get to see Vader’s fortress of solitude in all its glory until Gareth Edwards introduced it in Rogue One.
Luke Had A Long-Lost Sister – But Not Leia
George Lucas didn’t reveal that Leia is Luke’s long-lost twin sister until Return of the Jedi, but Empire hinted at it with Leia picking up on Luke’s Force communication and Yoda saying, “There is another.” The original draft of Star Wars II revealed Luke to have a long-lost sister like the final movie, but she was going to be a new character named Nellith.
When Anakin’s ghost appeared to Luke in Brackett’s script, he told him he had a sister that he had to send far away from Luke for their own protection. Initially, Jedi was going to introduce a brand-new character as Luke’s Force-sensitive sister.