Major character deaths and interactions that could have changed everything in Star Wars!
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00If these unused moments had been preserved in their respective Star Wars movies, then
00:05much-loved Jedi Masters may not have survived Order 66.
00:10Fans could have found it tough to forgive certain villains turned heroes, and the boldest
00:15ending in the franchise's history would have possibly been lost forever.
00:19So I am Gareth, this is What Cultures Star Wars, and here are 10 more unused Star Wars
00:24scenes that would have changed everything.
00:2710. Bail Organa's First Appearance Episode I – The Phantom Menace
00:33One of the most underrated performances found in the prequel trilogy came from the terrific
00:37Jimmy Smits.
00:39With the veteran actor bringing the brave and warm adoptive father of Leia Organa to
00:43life superbly during Episodes II-III, Smits would also build on that excellent work as
00:48Bail Organa in the likes of Rogue One, a Star Wars story, and the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series.
00:54However, had George Lucas opted to stick to his original plan for one little deleted moment
00:59in Episode I – The Phantom Menace, maybe fans would be living in a world where Smits
01:03was never passed the Organa Ball.
01:06Actor Adrian Dunbar was initially cast in the role of Bail Organa for that first prequel,
01:11with the character stating that Alderaan seconded the motion put forward by Padme Amidala for
01:16a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum in an unused moment.
01:21Not only did that scene not make the cut, though, Dunbar's role was also altered to
01:25that of Bail Antilles of Alderaan, one of the other figures nominated to succeed Valorum
01:30as Supreme Chancellor.
01:32Dunbar would later note how Lucas had told him his character would be involved in the
01:36next two flicks, but that ultimately never happened, and instead this original Organa
01:41was eventually replaced by the Smits.
01:449.
01:45Kylo Ren Tortures Chewie – Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
01:49By the time Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker had reached its divisive conclusion, most
01:54happily accepted the return of Ben Solo, and forgave the troubled soul as he finally helped
02:00Rey take down the Emperor and the First Order.
02:03But if one specific scene involving a then-Kylo Ren and Chewbacca had been used in J.J. Abrams'
02:08underwhelming Skywalker saga finale, then perhaps fans wouldn't have been as quick
02:13to celebrate Solo's redemption.
02:15We're now sure Ren had already murdered his own father, but he was very much a man
02:19torn between the light and dark side as he suddenly impaled Han Solo on Starkiller Base,
02:25so he still wasn't seen as a complete monster at this stage.
02:28However, a deleted Episode IX scene would have seen Ren heading to a place so dark when
02:33face-to-face with Han's best mate Chewie, the actor in the suit Yonah Schwartamo noted
02:38in his raw My Life as a Wookiee book that he felt people may have struggled to forgive
02:42Kylo Ren in the aftermath.
02:44Schwartamo remembered being genuinely scared of the intense Adam Driver throughout the
02:49filming of the scene involving Ren torturing Chewie, feeling the whole thing was likely
02:54just a bit too dark for the story Abrams and co wanted to tell.
02:58In the end, the disturbing sequence that saw Driver becoming a real monster was scrapped,
03:03with Chewie just being saved after being captured by the First Order instead.
03:08Now I want to know really quickly, what is your favourite sequel moment?
03:11Was it Chewbacca being saved or something else?
03:14Do let me know in the comments section down below!
03:178.
03:18Palpatine plants more seeds of doubt in Anakin's mind – Episode III, Revenge of the Sith
03:24Revenge of the Sith certainly still boasted its fair share of moments between Anakin Skywalker
03:28and Sheev Palpatine, with the latter slowly manipulating the conflicted Jedi into joining
03:33him and turning to the dark side.
03:36But there was actually a deleted scene between the two that added even more glorious detail
03:41to Skywalker's heartbreaking eventual exchanges with his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and
03:46beloved Padme Amidala on Mustafar towards the end of the flick.
03:50In this scene, the eventual Emperor was confronted by the delegation of 2000, a number of senators
03:56who demanded Palpatine return his emergency powers to the Senate once the war was over.
04:01Here, after being presented with a petition of the 2000, Palpatine proceeded to state
04:05to Anakin in private that the senators, including Padme, were not to be trusted.
04:11In fact, he'd even go as far as to tell Skywalker that Amidala was hiding something,
04:16before claiming that Anakin just did not want to admit he sensed betrayal in his beloved.
04:21With the inclusion of this scene, Anakin's decision to suddenly lash out at his wife
04:25once Obi-Wan is revealed to have joined her on the lava planet, is actually shown to have
04:30been subtly orchestrated by Palpatine too.
04:33So not only was Palpatine responsible for making Anakin lose trust in the entire Jedi
04:38Order, this scene would have also shown how he planted the idea of Amidala's potential
04:43betrayal in Skywalker's impressionable mind, a move that directly led to Skywalker's
04:48choking off her and clashing with old master Obi-Wan.
04:50Remember back when The Force Awakens' first few trailers melted the internet all those
05:01years ago?
05:02Well, during that marketing material, there was actually a moment there which showed the
05:06old pirate queen Maz Kanata handing the Skywalker lightsaber over to what looked like Leia Organa.
05:12But when fans finally sat down to take in the first chapter of the sequel saga, they
05:17were surprised to learn that Leia didn't actually end up holding the legendary weapon
05:20at any point.
05:21Instead, Maz ultimately attempted to give Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to Rey after
05:26her Forceback moment, before Abrams opted to have Finn take the weapon to the Resistance
05:30base and Starkiller base, however.
05:33The director originally shot a few scenes that would have involved Kanata following
05:36our heroes to that former location.
05:38Here, she would have obviously given the iconic lightsaber to Luke's sister.
05:43But after realising that the character wouldn't have had much else to do once she delivered
05:46the blade, Abrams told Entertainment Weekly that he felt the moment just became unnecessary.
05:52It was soon taken out, and both the lightsaber and Maz's original journeys in the film
05:56were ever so slightly altered as a result.
05:596.
06:00Luke Returns with the Blue Lightsaber – Episode 6, Return of the Jedi
06:04Speaking of lightsabers once wielded by the legendary Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi
06:09saw the iconic son of Anakin debut a marvellous green version of the sacred Jedi weapon.
06:15But if George Lucas had stuck with the initial and eventually unused version of the Jabba's
06:19sail barge sequence, then Star Wars fans may have had to wait a staggering 22 years to
06:24see the first ever green lightsaber.
06:27Qui-Gon Jinn would go on to use a similar weapon in 1999's The Phantom Menace, of
06:31course.
06:32You see, when Lucas and the team began shooting the final original trilogy film, they initially
06:36had Luke using yet another blue lightsaber in the flick.
06:40However, they soon realised during production that this blue blade was rather difficult
06:44to see when ignited in front of the clear Tatooine sky.
06:48So the call was eventually made to switch the blade from blue to green in the end.
06:52But not before a teaser trailer for the flick in 1982 revealed footage of a blue-bladed
06:57Luke swinging his weapon around on Jabba's barge, with this trailer now reminding fans
07:01just how close they were to waiting two decades for the first cool green Jedi laser sword.
07:075.
07:08Clones in Disguise at the Temple – Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith
07:13With Order 66 already well and truly being executed by the time Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda
07:18arrived at the Jedi Temple, to disable the coded retreat message in Revenge of the Sith,
07:24the finished flick simply showed the two Jedi Masters cutting through a bunch of 501st Legion
07:28clone troopers that they once fought alongside.
07:32But had the original version of that slaughter been left in the flick, that Temple return
07:36and brief showdown would have certainly hit differently.
07:39In an earlier iteration of the sequence, Kenobi and Yoda were first greeted by a number of
07:44figures wearing Jedi robes.
07:46From a distance, the Masters may have assumed they were simply about to exchange words with
07:50some remaining survivors of the purge.
07:53But as they got closer, it became clear that they were actually dealing with a bunch of
07:56clones attempting to lure them into a deadly trap.
08:00Even after Kenobi tries to make light of the unsettling situation by quipping how their
08:04former allies made terrible Jedi, these one-time generals having to slice through clones wearing
08:09the robes of fallen Jedi would have made for a far more disturbing arrival at the Temple
08:14than the one we got.
08:15It also would have highlighted just how far these brainwashed clones were willing to go
08:19to wipe out the Order.
08:27Most would agree that the badass-looking Captain Phasma ended up being unforgivably wasted
08:32during the sequel trilogy.
08:34By the time she disappointingly fell to her death in The Last Jedi, the character's
08:38only real highlight came in the form of her intimidating arrival on Jakku.
08:42If Rian Johnson had opted to keep Phasma's alternative death sequence in this middle
08:46sequel chapter, though, the First Order villain would have actually been given a far more
08:50memorable end.
08:51In that other version of her demise, Phasma had Finn surrounded by his former colleagues.
08:56But just as it looked like the deserter was doomed, Finn reveals to all that Phasma was
09:01the one responsible for lowering Starkiller Base's shield after having a gun pointed
09:05at her head.
09:07Rather than just blindly continuing to follow Phasma after that revelation, her troops begin
09:11to question the person in charge.
09:14Then before they can act, the Chrome Dome commits the most ruthless act of her entire
09:18time on screen, swiftly and brutally gunning down her own soldiers to conceal the truth.
09:24It's a properly shocking sequence, and unlike her other death scene, one that highlights
09:28just how far Phasma was willing to go to survive.
09:32Though she still couldn't do that in the end, with Finn ultimately blasting her through
09:36the chest in this deleted scene.
09:42Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith Those who have experienced the gift that
09:46is the Clone Wars animated series will know that Master Yoda ultimately learns how to
09:51return from the grave as a Force spirit after communicating with the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn
09:56and passing a number of important tests.
09:59But there was once a scene that would have occurred towards the end of Revenge of the
10:02Sith that could have resulted in that aforementioned Clone Wars arc, one that went down before
10:07the events of Episode 3, likely never needing to become an animated thing.
10:11As Yoda meditated on a secret asteroid after battling with Darth Sidious, Qui-Gon's
10:16voice would have been heard telling the Jedi Master of the training he was set to give
10:20him that would help him merge with the Force at will.
10:23From here, Yoda would have likely begun learning the secret of immortality at the same time
10:27as Obi-Wan Kenobi, rather than having a head start, with the little green legend obviously
10:32then telling Qui-Gon's old apprentice about Jinn's training in the finished film.
10:37Now sure, it certainly would have been awesome to hear Liam Neeson's unmistakable voice
10:40one more time in the prequels, but when given the option of having this impactful Qui-Gon
10:45Yoda moment play out over one small scene, or over the course of a wonderful three-episode
10:50animated arc instead, it's safe to say very few would opt for the former.
10:552.
10:56The Heroes Survive – Rogue One A Star Wars Story
10:59Rather than have the heroic rebels fighting to bring down the Empire survive after successfully
11:04stealing the Death Star plans from the enemy, Gareth Edwards had the likes of Jyn Erso and
11:09Cassian Andor tragically killed by that very superweapon in Rogue One A Star Wars Story.
11:15It wasn't always going to be this way though.
11:17One of the first drafts of the movie contained eventually unused scenes that would have seen
11:21Jyn and Cassian actually find a way to get off Scarif and hop in an escape pod after
11:26getting the plans over to Leia Organa.
11:28That wasn't necessarily because the likes of Gary Whitter and Jon Noll wanted a happy
11:33They just assumed Disney wouldn't sign off on a finale that sees all of our heroes biting
11:37the dust.
11:38However, after ultimately feeling that their instinct of all the heroes having to pay the
11:42ultimate sacrifice was the right call, they asked Lucasfilm and Disney if they could have
11:47their darker ending.
11:48The folks in charge told them to go for it in the end, with that happy ending – one
11:52that still would have seen droid K-2SO die in action – being dropped in favour of the
11:57heartbreaking end they'd always desired.
12:00Huzzah!
12:011.
12:02Quinlan Vos died in the original Order 66 sequence – Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith
12:08The charismatic and unpredictable Jedi Master known as Quinlan Vos was one of the few to
12:12have made it out of the galaxy-changing Order 66 alive.
12:17As recently as during Disney Plus' Obi-Wan Kenobi series, the titular Jedi was informed
12:21of the fact his old pal helped the Path smuggle younglings across the galaxy and safely away
12:26from the Empire.
12:28But had one deleted moment during Revenge of the Sith remained in the finished cut,
12:32then Vos surely wouldn't have been helping anyone.
12:34In the wake of Order 66 being given, Vos was once one of the first few Jedi taken out by
12:39the clone troopers.
12:41Whilst riding in a group of juggernaut tanks on Kashyyyk, one of said tanks would have
12:45suddenly turned around and opened fire on the helpless general, seemingly killing him
12:50right there and then.
12:51The unfinished death scene slash animatic obviously never made it into Episode 3, though,
12:55and Vos managed to thankfully survive in both Legends and canon continuity largely due to
13:00the character's popularity.
13:02Will fans ever see him again in the post-Clone Wars galaxy far, far away?
13:06Thanks to this scene never making the cut, at least there's still hope.