But otherwise I have to agree. Lucas had a vague overall story arc in his head that consisted of something like - Vader was a good guy with great potential that fell to the seductive dark side. Luke was always intended to be the one taking the hero's journey that Lucas had learned about from Campbell. Vader survived merely as a hint that Luke's journey wasn't done, but just beginning. Everything else was fleshed in after Star Wars became a blockbuster.
Points of evidence:
- Obi-Wan twice refers to Vader as "Darth", as if that was his first name. - Star Wars was already in production when Lucas decided to kill Obi-Wan and was scared to tell Alec Guiness. - During the filming of ESB, Lucas was still debating whether or not to make Vader Luke's father.
Star Wars was released in the spring of 1977 without any mention of an episode number or name.
It was re-released in the fall of the same year with the new "Episode IV: A New Hope", despite the fact that most theatres were still playing the original release.
Many fans saw the film many times that year and into the next, and the last few times they saw the re-relaesed version without knowing the sub-title was missing from the original.
NOBODY thought the movie would be popular enough for a sequel when it was originally released in a small handfull of theatres. But when it became a phenomenon, Lucas publicly revealed the fact that it was actually one part of a three trilogy saga.
He decided to start in the middle because ANH was the most interesting part to Lucas at the time, and remains the most beloved for most of the fans.
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Luke and Leia would be "siblings". Heh.
But otherwise I have to agree. Lucas had a vague overall story arc in his head that consisted of something like - Vader was a good guy with great potential that fell to the seductive dark side. Luke was always intended to be the one taking the hero's journey that Lucas had learned about from Campbell. Vader survived merely as a hint that Luke's journey wasn't done, but just beginning. Everything else was fleshed in after Star Wars became a blockbuster.
Points of evidence:
- Obi-Wan twice refers to Vader as "Darth", as if that was his first name.
- Star Wars was already in production when Lucas decided to kill Obi-Wan and was scared to tell Alec Guiness.
- During the filming of ESB, Lucas was still debating whether or not to make Vader Luke's father.
Star Wars was released in the spring of 1977 without any mention of an episode number or name.
It was re-released in the fall of the same year with the new "Episode IV: A New Hope", despite the fact that most theatres were still playing the original release.
Many fans saw the film many times that year and into the next, and the last few times they saw the re-relaesed version without knowing the sub-title was missing from the original.
NOBODY thought the movie would be popular enough for a sequel when it was originally released in a small handfull of theatres. But when it became a phenomenon, Lucas publicly revealed the fact that it was actually one part of a three trilogy saga.
He decided to start in the middle because ANH was the most interesting part to Lucas at the time, and remains the most beloved for most of the fans.