Storm troopers in the Death Star using their light sabers
The original first couple of drafts that George Lucas wrote of The Star Wars were drastically different than what we got on screen. This image is an original painting done by Ralph McQuarrie for Lucas’s early ideas that were at the time called The Adventures of Luke Starkiller as Taken from the Journal of the Whills.
Eventually from the rewrites the light sabers were turned into a Force user thing
However the suits were made from the original ideas so the container where the storm troopers would have kept their sabers stayed on as a utility compartment(edit: thermal detonator, not utility canister). The sabers were replace by menacing blaster rifles.
Darth Vader fighting on the rebel ship
Originally Vader was a normal guy, still with cyborg parts, but more regular with a face and such. When McQuarrie drew him, he figured that he would be coming out of an airlock in the initial scene when the empire attacks the rebel ship, so he gave Vader a mask. Lucas liked the mask so much, they kept him in it always. This is my favorite story from the making of.
This is what he initially looked like
Taken from the Dark Horse comic series, “The Star Wars” that was made using the original script; trust me, it’s crazy different from the movies! This is Vader and Anikan Starkiller is an angst-horny teen being trained by old general Luke Skywalker on the planet of Aquilae because his dad Kain Starkiller can’t deal with it, R2D2 talks, ITS NUTS!
The Droids Concept Art
These two are about the only familiar thing (I mean very close to final draft) from the original drafts… except, well, the whole Artoo talking thing. McQuarrie was pretty much the original art director for the series, his stuff is still being used for the newer stuff coming out, such as Rebels. The R2 in this pic is pretty much what Chopper is in the show. I implore you, go find the original concept art by Ralph McQuarrie, it will give you a whole new prism to look through into the origins of this cultural phenomenon. If you want to read or listen to the audiobook, you can learn about all of this in How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise by Chris Taylor. **I do not own any of these images or have anything to do with the book, show, etc. I just thought you guys might get a kick out of it, Enjoy!!!
