Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi was meant to live through A New Hope
It turns out Alec Guinness' character originally survived that Darth Vader battle
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It's a scene every Star Wars fan remembers with a heavy heart - Obi-Wan Kenobi is mowed down by Darth Vader in the first Star Wars film Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
While ultimately serving a purpose to the story - through his death, Kenobi became a guiding presence to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on his trajectory to Jedi Knight thanks to the force - it has now emerged, all these 40 years later, that the legendary character, memorably played by Alec Guinness, was originally supposed to survive the film.
Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew has been treating fans to a sneak peek at select pages from the original copy of his Star Wars scripts over the past few months.
The latest photo to be tweeted by Mayhew shows a very different outcome to Kenobi's battle with villain Darth Vader.
In the original script, Kenobi survives and is even assisted by Skywalker who helps his protégé defeat a group of attacking stormtroopers in the tense Death Star showdown.
We'll never know how these turn of events would have affected the story, but it's not a stretch to imagine that Obi-Wan would have joined Luke on his journey to Yoda's refuge, Dagobah, as seen in The Empire Strikes Back.
Another Star Wars revelation to have been revealed via Mayhew's Twitter account includes the definitive answer on whether or not Han Solo (Harrison Ford) shot Greedo first in the Mos Eisley Cantina (answer: he did).
Last week, the trailer for the franchise's upcoming spin-off prequel Rogue One dropped; you can view our shot-by-shot breakdown here - including the moment eagle-eyed fans spotted a scene filmed in a certain London underground station.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments