The Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Again line, “No, I’m your father,” has been quoted, parodied, and referenced numerous instances over the previous 4 a long time. It is one of the misquoted strains in historical past as nicely.
Nevertheless it’s additionally a plot twist that shook Hollywood, and it made these films stand out in fashionable tradition, not simply as blockbusters however as nice tales.
Are you able to think about if that line by no means occurred?
Let’s dive in.
Mark Hamill Explains the Alternate Ending of ‘Empire Strikes Again’
In line with the video with Mark Hamill, the unique script had a really totally different reveal on the finish of the film.
On this model, Darth Vader would have informed Luke, “You do not know the reality. Obi-Wan killed your father.”
This could have painted the smart and noble Obi-Wan Kenobi because the villain of the story, a really stunning twist that will have subverted viewers expectations.
The type mentor that we beloved would have been solid doubtful, and it might have brought on an inner battle inside Luke that we needed to wait just a few years for the sequel to see.
Mark Hamill admitted that he thought this was a “spectacular” thought.
So why did not it occur?
Director Irvin Kershner and producer George Lucas had an even bigger secret in retailer, which wound up being that Vader was Luke’s father.
And to forestall the true twist from leaking, they saved it a carefully guarded secret, with solely a handful of individuals conscious of the true storyline.
That is why the road within the script was initially written that means.
Mark Hamill was solely informed in regards to the “I’m your father” line moments earlier than filming the scene. Kershner pulled him apart and had him learn the road from a bit of paper, making him promise to not inform anybody.
That loopy last-minute change preserved the twist of the film, and it allowed Hamill to truly act towards having the revelation in actual time.
Summing It All Up
So the thought of a villainous Obi-Wan is fascinating to think about, however it’s laborious to think about the Star Wars saga with out the emotional weight and complexity of the father-son dynamic between Luke and Vader.
I really suppose they preserved the villainous Obi thought in The Final Jedi, the place we study Luke virtually killed Kylo Ren whereas he was sleeping — that’s kind of the identical preliminary payoff spun on its head.
This can be a cool story, and it reveals the thought and complexity that went into preserving a secret from the viewers, and an alternate actuality the place they’d a plan for Luke, it doesn’t matter what.
Let me know what you suppose within the feedback.
