Did you know Star Wars Luke Skywalker was originally supposed to be a female character? That’s right! When creator George Lucas was coming up with the concept of the widely popular Star Wars universe, he wanted to name the character of Luke Skywalker as Annakin Starkiller and Luke Skywalker was supposed to be a female.
Female Luke Skywalker Concept Art
In October 2022, a Daily Mail article revealed some early concept art of a female Luke Skywalker that George Lucas was considering making the movie’s protagonist a woman. The rare-hand drawn artwork depicts a second draft of George Lucas‘ script for Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope. Although, he decided to go with Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.
While Lucas decided to go with a male Luke Skywalker, the sketches for the female Skywalker are known to be the inspiration behind Daisy Ridley’s Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
A few other concept art that were circulating around that time consisted of Darth Vader’s look which was quite similar to the film version apart from the eyes that were visible through the helmet.
Other Conceptual Changes
It is no surprise that working on a movie such as Star Wars needed a lot of improvisations and considerations. So naturally, Lucas had to go through a range of drafts and ideas before finalising his characters and storyline. For example, the original title for the Return of the Jedi was the Revenge of the Jedi. It was however reused after a few adjustments for the title of Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith.
In another concept art, we see Obi-Wan Kenobi surviving his lightsaber battle with Darth Vader. Kenobi must have been supposed to return from the battle and offer his wisdom to Luke for his adventures.
The concept art show a multitude possibilities of what the original draft of the script must have looked like. However, as fans of the Star Wars saga, we have to accept that we got the best version of whatever Lucas was contemplating the story to turn out.
