It’s the darkest chapter in the original trilogy of the most famous sci-fi franchise and it has one of the biggest surprising reveals in movie history.The Empire Strikes Back, long celebrated as the best chapter in the massiveStar Warssaga, has many secrets swirling around that have yet been discovered by sone of the franchise’s biggest fans. Here we take a look at 10 facts you never knew about what some claim is the greatestStar Warsadventure of them all.
10Buffy the Jedi Master.
In the decades sinceStar Warschanged the world in 1977, a wealth of material about the saga’s developmental stages has come out, with some bits of old concept art and words like “Starkiller,” the original last name for Luke, even getting repurposed in later chapters and the extended universe. The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, by J.W. Rinzler, is a fantastic resource filled with a ton of surprising facts, such as the original name forJedi Master Yoda. It was Buffy. Yes, Buffy. In early outlines drafted by George Lucas, Bunden Debannen aka Buffy was three to four thousand years old. Luke, the Chosen One, would be “the human buffy.” Later, Lucas envisioned him as a frog type creature, with the full name Minch Yoda.
9The Emperor wasn’t always played by a man.
Before the great Ian McDiarmid was retroactively inserted into later editions ofThe Empire Strikes Back, to tighten up continuity withReturn of the Jediand theStar Warsprequels, actor Clive Revill voiced the mysterious and decrepit leader of theGalactic Empire. But it was a woman named Elaine Baker underneath the makeup. She was then the wife of Academy Award winning makeup artist Rick Baker, who in addition to his work onStar Wars, worked onAn American Werewolf in London,Coming to America, theMen in Blackseries, and Michael Jackson’sThriller. Baker not only made the suit for the 1976King Kongmovie, he’s the guy inside of it! Speaking of primates, Elaine Baker’s eyes in Empire were the eyes of a chimpanzee.
8Darth Vader wasn’t always a Skywalker.
In the first draft by the late Leigh Brackett, aka the Queen of Space Opera,Anakin Skywalker, Ben Kenobi, and Minch Yoda swear Luke into the Jedi Order, in a little ceremony that involves an oath and the crossing of their lightsabers. Anakin also tells Luke about his sister, who was also training to become a Jedi, just like Luke.
7Leia wasn’t always a Skywalker either.
That sister in the early drafts was notPrincess Leia Organa of Alderaan. In the second draft ofThe Empire Strikes Back, Vader tells Luke, “You’re in love with Leia. You don’t want to lose her to Han Solo… But you will, if you lack the courage to use the strength that’s in you. A strength as great as mine, Luke.” This second draft and its accompanying dialog, which of course reads much differently with the addition of the now familiar familial twists, was written by George Lucas himself.
Before anyone knew whether or not the firstStar Warswould be the kind of success that could warrant a big budget sequel, Lucas commissioned a novelist to write a story for a sequel that could be made for less money, reusing sets, and without Harrison Ford, who wasn’t signed on for follow-ups. Splinter of the Mind’s Eye featured a Luke and Leia romance, as the shipwrecked duo searched a swamp planet for something called a “Kaiburr crystal.” Both Luke and Leia would’ve had lightsaber duels with Darth Vader. In a similar fashion, the whole “frozen in carbonite” plot device was cooked up as a way to writeHan Soloout of the next movie should wily scoundrel Harrison Ford have chosen not to return for a third Star Wars movie. (Of course, we all know what happened when Ford agreed to make The Force Awakens.)
5Darth Vader’s Castle.
The Empire Strikes Backnearly included a glimpse of the place Darth Vader calls home. Molten lava would have surrounded this castle-like fortress. Eventually, we saw a version of this inRogue One: A Star Wars story, built with bitter sentimentality on Mustafar, near the site of the battle where the young Sith Lord nearly lost his life to his old master, Obi-Wan. In some versions, Vader had pet gargoyles. It’s possible this was an inspiration for the pet seen in one of the best episodes of TV’s excellent The Clone Wars series, “Lair of Grievous.” Poor Gor, may that guard beast rest in peace.
4Darth Vader spoiled Empire two years earlier.
Fans who picked up a CD copy of John Williams' score forStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, before they saw the movie, were treated to songs with titles like, “The Death of Darth Maul,” “The Death of Qui-Gon,” and “The Funeral of Qui-Gon.” A 1978 newspaper report quoted David Prowse, the man in Darth Vader’s suit, as saying, “Father can’t kill son, son can’t kill father,” in front of 1,000 fans during an appearance in Berkeley, California, where he openly discussed Vader’s link to Luke. The reveal was spoiled again for anyone who picked up the novelization of Empire, which was released a month before the movie. Speaking of that reveal, even Chris Farley got the line wrong. It isn’t “Luke, I am your father.” It’s, “No, I am your father.”
3Attack of the Calrissians.
At one point, wily scoundrel and Han Solo best frenemy Lando Calrissian was conceived as a clone, from one of many warrior clans left over from the Clone Wars.
2Attack of the Wampas.
That killer snow beast on Hoth who feels like a distant cousin to the Abominable Snowmonster of the North from the Rankin/Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer television special was originally supposed to have a bunch of friends. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t get the creature to look believable enough with the effects of the day, which is why the original theatrical cut ofThe Empire Strikes Backonly shows the Wampa’s hand and head. As a result, the production scrapped a planned scene where a whole pack (or is that herd?) of Wampas would have attacked the Rebel base, doing considerable damage to the Millennium Falcon in the process. This would’ve explained why the Falcon was always falling apart for the rest of the movie. Instead, filmmakers decided to put that on the ship’s general wear and tear.
1Mark Hamill regrets Empire’s animal cruelty.
No Earth animals were hurt on the set ofThe Empire Strikes Back, but we do know of at least one snow beast from the planet Hoth who lost a limb. In a reply to a fan who Tweeted him a picture of a cake shaped like a severed wampa arm, shortly before the release ofThe Last Jedi, Hamill revealed a bitter truth. “When filming scene I was assured my lightsaber swipe toward camera (creature not on set) would simply singe fur 2 scare him off - Horrified to later see amputation & unnecessary cruelty, Wampa was HUNGRY (not EVIL), Luke would never do this! #StillAngry2017”.
