A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas created Star Wars: A New Hope,
spawning an entire franchise of awesomeness.
Decades later, we're still learning all kinds of secrets from behind the scenes.
Stabilize your rear deflectors as we scan the Star Wars saga for some stuff even the
Jedi Council didn't know.
Number one: IG-88 on tap
As part of the group of bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon
in Empire Strikes Back, IG-88 looked really intimidating… but at the same time, he looked
really familiar.
That's because he was previously seen in A New Hope, in one of the least likely of places:
as a Mos Eisley Cantina drink dispenser.
That's right, the same prop pieces used to create IG-88's head are also scattered behind
the cantina's bar.
R2-D2 and C-3PO were just steps away from becoming a couple of bickering distilleries.
But IG-88 isn’t the only one with an unlucky head...
Number two: Jango hits his head
We've all seen the Star Wars blooper of the Stormtrooper accidentally walking into a door
in A New Hope.
George Lucas even went back to add a sound effect to the mishap during the DVD re-release
of the original trilogy.
But did you know that Lucas paid homage to this blooper in Attack of the Clones?
After the fight between Jango Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the bounty hunter can be seen fleeing
to the Slave I as a young Boba Fett is firing up its engines.
During Jango's hasty retreat, you can see the ship's door clipping his helmet as he
passes, accompanied by an appropriate sound effect.
Some argue that Jango didn't actually hit his head during this blink-and-you-miss-it
moment, but we'd imagine that Lucas would've closed the door normally if he meant otherwise.
Now we know where that Stormtrooper inherited his clumsiness.
It’s certainly not the worst thing that happened to Jango’s head, though.
Number three: Marvel gives Star Wars a hand
Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is filled with tributes to The Empire Strikes
Back.
Specifically, every movie in Phase Two includes a scene of a character losing an arm, Skywalker-style.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said to CinemaBlend, "I’m obsessed with Star
Wars.
It didn’t start out as intentional, but it became intentional."
Number four: Those darn helmets
"I can't see a thing in this helmet!"
You think that explains why the Stormtroopers are all bad shots?
Well, that wasn't exactly in the script.
In this scene, Mark Hamill was complaining to Harrison Ford after he thought the cameras
had stopped rolling.
Surprisingly, Lucas decided to keep the line in the movie.
Just be happy you weren't wearing that Darth Vader mask, Luke.
Number five: The Force Awakens gets Raided
We've all seen the awesome cameos packed into The Force Awakens, but there are a lot more
than you may realize, including appearances by Bill Hader, Simon Pegg, Ken Leung, Warwick
Davis, and James Bond himself, Daniel Craig.
For those wondering, Craig played the Stormtrooper who was Jedi mind tricked by Rey into setting
her free.
There are a ton of Game of Thrones cameos as well.
We all know Brienne of Tarth actress Gwendoline Christie plays Captain Phasma, but there are
plenty of other cameos brought in from the Seven Kingdoms.
Thomas Brodie Sangster, Jessica Henwick, Mark Stanley, Miltos Yerolemou, and Emun Elliott
also appear in small roles throughout the film.
Our favorite Force Awakens cameo comes in the form of the criminal gang, Kanjiklub.
Fans of the Indonesian action flicks The Raid: Redemption and The Raid 2 should recognize
Yayan Ruhian, Iko Uwais, and Cecep Arif Rahman.
That's Rama and two of his fiercest opponents from the franchise!
Number six: Starkiller vs. Skywalker
Dedicated Star Wars fans know that George Lucas originally intended for the protagonist
of his series to have the last name of "Starkiller."
Of course, Starkiller sounds a bit darker than Skywalker, so the name was changed.
Eventually, LucasArts could use the Starkiller name for the protagonist in Star Wars: The
Force Unleashed.
This video game puts you in the jackboots of Darth Vader's secret apprentice, ordered
to create a small rebellion against the Empire to distract the Emperor enough to be overthrown.
These events actually led to the creation of the Rebel Alliance.
Unfortunately, most of the lore outside of the movies and recent TV series got thrown
into the Sarlacc Pit once Disney took control of the series.
At least J.J.
Abrams brought the Starkiller name back for the new Death Star.
We know, it's technically not a Death Star, but actually a mobile ice planet superweapon.
It's still just a really, really big Death Star that can blast multiple planets at once
from across the solar system.
Big difference.
Number seven: Where credit is due
We all love the iconic "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…" scroll before each
Star Wars film, but did you ever notice that there are no opening credits before any of
the movies in the series?
The Directors Guild of America slapped George Lucas with a hefty $250,000 fine for not properly
crediting the director before the film, even though he wasn't the first person to do this.
As a result, Lucas severed ties with the guild like it was a Skywalker's arm.
Youch!
Number eight: Jedi Master Tupac
Yes, you read that right, and no, we're not making this up.
Rolling Stone reports the late, great Tupac Shakur auditioned to star as Mace Windu in
The Phantom Menace.
Details are a bit shaky, since Tupac was murdered in September of 1996 and filming on Episode
I started nine months later.
Nevertheless, just imagine if "Thug Life" himself was cast as Mace Windu.
Tupac could have tossed aside his beef with the East Coast's rappers and started feuding
with the Sith instead.
While some diehard rap fans believe Tupac may still be alive and in hiding, there’s
no way that Mace Windu survived that brutal electrocution and defenestration.
Number nine: The rasp of Leia
Did you ever watch Return of the Jedi and wonder why this voice sounds familiar?
(Star Wars alien voice speaking)
Surprisingly, that voice was done by the late actress Pat Welsh.
While her list of film credits is short, you might recognize her for one other prominent
role: E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial.
The voice of that adorable, beer-chugging, candy-eating alien is the same as the bounty
hunter disguise Leia used when threatening to suicide bomb Jabba's palace with a thermal
detonator.
Still, as some fans may know, this isn't the only connection between ET and the Star Wars
saga...
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