The Creator
For such a beloved cinema franchise, Star Wars has always seemingly been a magnet for controversy among fans. Disney has constantly dealt with backlash with the property. But before the House of Mouse, all the attention was paid to one man — the auteur of the Star Wars universe, George Lucas. For as big as Star Wars has gotten, Lucas seemingly has had two modes: an independent filmmaker and a businessman. He knew how to manage the merchandising and expansion of Star Wars for a time, but he was also the creative force behind the movies, even when other filmmakers were given the reins.
Lucas has made many decisions that fans were unhappy about, but even as the writer/director/producer has his uncompromising vision, there are times he did listen to the fans and tried to course-correct on the series. Let’s take a look at the five times Lucas listened to Star Wars fans.
5. Burying the Star Wars Holiday Special
It’s 1978. Star Wars had become a phenomenon, but a sequel would be released in two more years. However, you can catch your favorite characters in a holiday special among the many that TV used to put out to fill programming during the Christmas season. Sounds pretty good, except the majority of the special is spent on Chewbacca’s Wookie family, as they roared without subtitles and they all watched their own holiday specials featuring the stars of the time. The Star Wars Holiday Special was an infamous flop and while Lucas would eventually franchise the series with spin-offs like the Ewok movies and Droid cartoons, this is one project that he made hard to watch again for a long time, except through bootlegs. Lucas has even said something akin to that he’d destroy every copy that exists if he had the time.
4. Luke’s Scream at Cloud City
In one of the changes in the 1997 Special Editions, a seemingly small element would change a whole context. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke is defeated at Cloud City by Darth Vader and cornered with a revelation that he’s his father and he wants Luke to join his side. Luke makes the ultimate choice to fall in the pits of the city, fate unknown. In the 1997 Special Edition, Lucas gave Luke a strange scream as he fell. Not only is it awkward because its a recycled clip of the Emperor’s scream when he plummeted in Return of the Jedi, but narratively, it doesn’t make sense for Luke to scream out of fear as he made his choice. Lucas understood the fans’ criticism of this change and he had taken the scream out of future releases, including DVD and Blu-ray.
3. Han Shoots First (kind of)
One of the most infamous changes in the Special Editions is when Greedo encounters Han in the cantina at Mos Eisley. This is a pure Western moment where Greedo is holding Han at gunpoint during a conversation and Han secretly readies his blaster to shoot Greedo. The change came when Lucas thought that was too cold-blooded for Han and had Greedo take a shot first, with Han casually dodging a blaster bolt via a CGI head tilt. This change birthed the rally cry, “Han shoots first!” Lucas understood the fans’ complaints and although he never truly changed it back, with each newer release of the movie (on DVD and Blu-ray and streaming), he would shorten the time in between Greedo’s shot and Han’s shot so it seems less retaliatory. So, now they both shoot at the exact same time (but Greedo somehow misses at point-blank range).
2. No more Midi-chlorians
The Force was established as something that couldn’t be exactly defined. It was a feeling. It was insubstantial. It was spiritual. In 1999’s The Phantom Menace, George Lucas made the Force somewhat biological with something called Midi-chlorians, which can literally be measured in a blood sample. Qui-Gon Jinn explains to young Anakin Skywalker that Midi-chlorians are microscopic cells that help the Jedi speak to the Force. The inclusion of this element was so baffling and fans spoke out against it. Lucas, to his better judgment, decided to just never mention Midi-chlorians again in the prequels going forward, which makes it kind of come off as a fever dream.
1. Jar Jar Binks gets significantly reduced
Whether you’re a fan of The Phantom Menace or not, the one thing everyone seemed to agree on is that Jar Jar Binks was not a welcome new character. He was conceived as a comedy relief for the younger audiences, but his manner of speaking and Steve Urkel-like bumbling nature, the majority of the audience found him annoying and Jar Jar became one of the BIGGEST blowbacks in all of cinema history. In the infant state of the internet, whole websites were dedicated to the death of Jar Jar or hating on him. Multiple websites. The criticism from the fans and casual audiences alike was just too big for Lucas to ignore, so in Episode II and Episode III, Jar Jar was given very little screen time. Padme Amidala would even politely tell him to shut up in Attack of the Clones at one point and he would just get a one-shot appearance in a scene in Revenge of the Sith.
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