The central mercenary is called Boba Fett. “When I was writing the early scripts for Star Wars, I wanted to develop an essentially evil character that was frightening,” says Lucas. “Darth Vader started as a kind of intergalactic bounty hunter in a space suit and evolved into a more grotesque knight as I got more into knights and the codes of everything. He became more of a Dark Lord than a mercenary bounty hunter. The Boba Fett character is really an early version of Darth Vader. He is also very much like the man-with-no-name from the Sergio Leone Westerns.”
The earliest version of the mercenary was Prince Valorum, a Black Knight of the Sith, who had appeared in Lucas’s rough draft for Star Wars, where he was employed by Vader to track down the heroes. But Fett was also the inheritor of Lucas’s idea for a super-stormtrooper, sketches of which were completed by McQuarrie as early as October 1977; by March 1978, however, McQuarrie, Johnston, and Lucas had transformed the supertrooper into a more or less completely designed galactic mercenary. There was some urgency to the task as Lucas had decided to feature Fett in an upcoming holiday television special scheduled to be broadcast that Christmas. The idea had also been prioritized to satisfy the needs of Black Falcon and Kenner, both of which wanted to have something to market before the release of Empire, still two years away.
“When I’m supposed to be writing, I end up making up names,” says Lucas of the mercenary’s christening. “I have a couple of little books that are lists of names. Whenever I think of a name, whenever I’m in the shower, I’m with friends, or see a sign, I write it down in my little book. So when I have a new character, sometimes I’ll go down the list and pick a name out that seems to fit that particular character.”
Other second-draft innovations included naming the snow monster a wampa and giving Yoda a particular speech pattern. “Yoda was one of those where I didn’t use the list of names,” says Lucas. “I thought, Okay, I’ve got this character who is kind of like a little Dalai Lama, so I came up with an Eastern-sounding name. Then I felt his dialogue and cadence should be unique. In Star Wars, I had to write Han’s dialogue so it would explain what Chewie was saying, which was hard to do. I tried to give people accents and subtitles. But when the second film came along, I thought, An accent isn’t going to work here. I’ve got to come up with something even more dramatic, because he’s such a weird, alien character. I had to come up with something that’s not a foreign language, not an accent, but somewhere in between those two things. That’s how I started Yoda’s backward style.”
As usual, Lucas had written the draft by hand. He then reread it after Bunny Alsup had typed it up, making corrections and revisions. One alteration involved the film’s numerical call-sign within the saga. On the handwritten title page, Empire is denoted Episode II, but the typed draft bears the title Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back by Leigh Brackett, from The Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas.
The title had actually just been registered with the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., as “Episode II (Two): The Empire Strikes Back” in March. And the serialization of the series had, in fact, already been debated for years, when Lucas had started his saga in the middle and had wanted, at one point, to number the first film “Episode IV” (or, possibly, V).
“We got cold feet at the last minute and took that out,” says Kurtz. “Fox was worried, and, to be perfectly honest, we were worried, too. People wouldn’t have understood what all that meant. They would have been asking themselves: What happened to the first three?”
Another difference between the handwritten script and the typed version was an omission in the latter of the second draft’s major revelation: that Darth Vader was the father of Luke Skywalker. Even at this early point, Lucas was well aware that this would be a huge plot twist and would have to remain top secret. Only those who absolutely needed to know would be told. Lucas sent Alan Ladd a copy of the script several months after finishing it—writing a note to the studio executive on the title page: “For Laddie, Here’s a rough idea of the film; May the Force be with us! George—P.S. Best read listening to the Star Wars album.” Lucas sent him only the typed version, with Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie artworks interspersed within the pages, but the revelation was left out. Nevertheless, Ladd liked the script.
“The issue of Luke’s father I kept pretty quiet for a long, long time,” Lucas says. “I didn’t tell anyone, not even Kersh. I just couldn’t risk it getting out.”
“We went through everything,” Kershner says. “I said, ‘I don’t think they can walk out of an asteroid in outer space and not breathe! Originally, we were going to do it floating, but it rapidly becomes too much. You notice the floating and forget the story.”
“Then it was a question of breaking down the script and going over it with George and Kersh,” Kurtz says, “discussing what things were too hard to do, what things might take too long, what things could be changed to make them better. That’s always part of the process with a technical film.”
Bounty hunter/dark knight concept by McQuarrie for Star Wars, circa 1975.
Supertrooper helmet concept by McQuarrie (no. 10), October 1977.
Supertrooper helmet concept by McQuarrie (no. 11), October 1977.
Supertrooper helmet concept by McQuarrie (no. 12), October 1977.
Early helmet concept by McQuarrie, sketched during the artist’s first meeting with Lucas, October 1977.
Supertrooper helmet concept by McQuarrie (no. 13), October 1977.
Supertrooper helmet concepts by McQuarrie (no. 125).
Supertrooper concept by McQuarrie (undated).
Supertrooper concept by McQuarrie (no. 130).
Supertrooper concepts by Johnston (no. 225 and 220, clinging to a wall).
Supertrooper concepts by Johnston (no. 221 and 219), February–March 1978.
Supertrooper concept by Johnston.
Supertrooper concept by Johnston.
* * *
STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK BY GEORGE LUCAS, APRIL 1, 1978—SECOND-DRAFT SUMMARY
For the first time in the process, the script, which runs 121 pages, includes a roll-up (as usual, Lucas wrote his draft by hand; he then made revisions to the typed version, which has been mistakenly referred to as a third draft):
After the destruction of its most feared battle station, the Empire has declared martial law throughout the galaxy. A million worlds have felt the oppressive hand of the Emperor’s agents in their attempt to crush the growing Rebellion. As the Imperial grip of tyranny tightens, Princess Leia and the small band of freedom fighters search for a more secure base of operations …
The ice planet is now called Hoth. Luke follows “a bright object” as it plummets groundward while Han is busy setting “perimeter markers.” Han later explains that he has to leave the base because of debts: “I’ve got to pay off Jabba the Hutt or I’m a walking dead man.” Leia reproaches him, but Han says that soon “there will be just too many [bounty hunters] to stop … Remotes, Gank killers, even Bell Cambos.” In a tense scene with Leia, he adds, “They say I kiss very well. But don’t worry, I’m not going to kiss you here—you see, I’m quite selfish about my pleasures and it wouldn’t be much fun for me now. I’m going to wait for you to grow up a little more. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
Title page of Alan Ladd Jr.’s copy of the second draft, with a note from Lucas: “May the Force be with us!”
Storyboards by Johnston for the second draft, with rollup still calling the film “Episode II” and opening tauntaun shot, spring 1978.
A “probe robot” seeks out the Rebels, disintegrating a snow creature in the process and generating a force field around itself as a buffer against the cold night. In the snow monster’s gorge, Luke is suspended by his ankles, but the voice of Ben councils him, “Think the saber in your hand.” Luke uses the Force to call his weapon to him, cuts his bindings, injures the snow monster, and makes his escape. He is stumbling in the snowstorm when Ben tells him, “Go to the
seventh moon in the Dagobah System. You will learn from the one who taught me: Yoda.” Luke collapses, but Ben’s spirit leads Han to the fallen adept. To keep Luke warm, Han now shoves him into the innards of a dead tauntaun (an old Native American trick, according to Kershner).
As the Rebels wait for news of Luke and Han, they have to close the blast doors of the base because a tauntaun has been mauled and they fear the monsters may attack at night. After Luke is brought back to the base, he is put in “a chamber filled with a thick, red slime. Luke begins to thrash about, raving in his delirium …”
LUKE
Great creatures … dangerous … move through ice … must go there … must survive. Yoda … go to Yoda … Base invaded … must survive …
A medical robot, Too-Onebee, helps Luke to recover (his humiliation scene has been cut). Meanwhile, the Rebels battle invading snow monsters, one of which they blast with a bazooka. It turns out the monsters are not carbon-based and, as R2-D2 reveals, are attracted by the Rebels’ high-pitched whistles. Han and Chewie find and destroy the probe robot.
Vader first appears on a Star Destroyer (he’s no longer seen in his home). Han is delayed from leaving by the snow monsters’ attack, while Vader strangles officers who don’t perform well. When the Imperials attack, Rebel ships escape thanks to big guns that destroy enemy vessels in their path. Because the Imperial fleet comes out of hyperspace too close to the planet, the Rebels are alerted to its presence and throw up a shield.
Suddenly the troops stop their activity, a Sergeant gives the signal to be quiet, and all the troops watch the distant horizon. A distant thumping can be heard. A regular, rhythmic pounding: thump-thump, thump-thump. It grows louder now, a high-pitched metallic rattling. The Rebel troops are nervous … Through a set of electro-binoculars they appear … four, maybe five, huge walking machines, like deadly monsters they plod over the horizon.
Luke flies in an armored speeder; he is Rogue Leader and communicates with Rogue Junior. Luke’s copilot, Dack, is killed. The Rebels use tow cables against the walkers, but Rogue Two disintegrates in a gas-ball explosion. After his aircraft is disabled, Luke rappels up to a walker, which he blows up with a hand grenade.
General Rieekan is mortally wounded, but Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO escape. When Vader and stormtroopers invade the base, the latter open the wrong door and have to battle the snow monsters. Seventeen Rebel ships escape, including the Falcon—which has troubles because she can’t make the jump to hyperspace and has to hide in a crater on an asteroid.
Miscellaneous alien concept by Johnston, early 1978.
Miscellaneous alien concept by Johnston, early 1978.
Miscellaneous alien concept by Johnston, early 1978.
A close-to-final snow creature concept by Johnston, early 1978.
Luke (no longer asleep) pilots his X-wing to Dagobah and crash-lands when his vision is obscured. R2 is attacked by a “swimming thing,” but disgorged onto the land. As the X-wing sinks into the swamp, Luke wonders how they’re ever going to leave. R2 “beeps a short, ‘Got me, boss.’ ” When a “strange voice” speaks, Luke ignites his lightsaber and turns to see a “blue creature … dressed in rags of somewhat human design. The creature lets out a long giggle, as it brushes its gray hair out of its eyes.” The creature also speaks in a backward syntax: “Harm I mean you not.”
LUKE
Run along; We have a man to find.
CREATURE
Yes, I found him! I am he? That’s me!
LUKE
How long had you been watching us?
CREATURE
On and off, all your life guess I.
Back on the Imperial Star Destroyer, Vader talks via hologram with Sate Pestage, “Grand Visor to His Eminence, The Emperor.” Vader then speaks to the Emperor, who says that the “son of Skywalker” could be turned to the dark side. Back in the Falcon, Han and Leia argue but end up sharing a long, deep kiss. Then a Mynock, “a five foot … leathery creature,” gives them trouble—and something else is amiss:
HAN
There’s no time to discuss this in a committee. Strap yourself in, we’re taking off.
LEIA
(angry)
I am not a committee!
Han pilots the Falcon out of the gullet of a “monstrous moray eel type creature.”
Vader convenes a group of bounty hunters on the ship: Bossk, Tuckuss, Dengar, and Boba Fett. When the Imperials espy the Falcon, Solo tries again to make the jump to hyperspace and fails, protesting, “It’s not my fault!” He turns the ship around and “attacks” the Destroyer, hiding on its hull.
Yoda teaches Luke while being carried in the latter’s backpack: “Once you’ve embarked on the dark path, it will dominate your destiny … If you flow with the Force, you will see the target bolts before they are fixed.” Luke approaches a tree that is a servant of the dark side.
LUKE
I don’t think I’m ready … How do I know you aren’t using me to get rid of something in there that’s too powerful for you.
YODA
There is nothing in there I assure you. Letting the dark side of the Force do your thinking you are. Throw those thoughts out of your head, yes. That is why you are here. You must press on with our learning, beyond fear.
LUKE
I’m not ready. It will kill me …
Luke enters the gigantic tree, lightsaber on, as Yoda “lights up his long, wooden smoking pipe.” Meanwhile, the Falcon floats away with the garbage, and Han decides to seek shelter with Lando Calrissian in the Bespin system. When Han approaches Cloud City (the subplot with aliens has been cut), the ship is buzzed by two twin-cockpitted fighters. The city is described as “art deco” and “half of the troops, as well as citizens of the city, are black,” including Lando. Back on Dagobah, Luke feels that his friends are about to suffer.
On Cloud City, Lando escorts his friends through a plaza overlooking the tops of the towers, remarking, “The power reactor is connected by a long shaft below the city, which keeps the pollution down.” He then betrays them to Vader in the dining room—this time, Han tries to blast him, but Vader deflects the bolts with his hand and grabs the pistol with the Force. Luke’s feelings intensify. Yoda and Ben warn him not to go to his friends’ aid, but he leaves.
BEN
He is our only hope.
YODA
No, we must find another.
Han is tortured. Fett is concerned that Solo may be too damaged for the reward; Leia is also tortured off screen. Vader prepares the Carbon Freezing Chamber and tests it on Solo. As they put Han in the chamber, he tells Leia, “I’ll be back.” Luke arrives, trades shots with Fett, and says:
LUKE
I know you’re with me, Lord Vader, I can feel your presence. Show yourself, or are you afraid?
Vader steps into view behind Luke.
VADER
The Force is with you, Skywalker, but you are not the master yet.
Lando rescues Chewbacca and Leia. However, they get stuck in an elevator and Lando scrambles on top to fix it—when R2 makes the elevator suddenly descend rapidly, and only a sure shot by Lando triggers the brakes and stops them. Meanwhile, Luke continues his duel against Vader.
VADER
I feel your anger, good, let yourself hate me.
LUKE
I have no feelings for you.
VADER
I destroyed your family. I destroyed Kenobi.
Ben speaks to Luke—“Lose hate, lose anger, Luke. The dark side is no stronger” (in the typed second draft, Lucas cut out his dialogue). On the gantry (the propeller blades have been cut), the battle becomes personal …
VADER
The Force runs strong in the Skywalker line, you must use the dark side. Together we would be the most powerful. Stronger with the Force than even the Emperor.
LUKE
Never will I join with you.
VADER
We will rule the galaxy as father and son.
LUKE
VADER
Old Kenobi never told you what happened to your father did he?
“Floating Robot” concept by McQuarrie (no. 212), April, 1978.
“Floating Robot” by McQuarrie, April 20–22, 1978. “I started with one that floats,” says the artist. “I got into things like tendrils or arms hanging down from the body of the unit. The color came from some exceptionally good ice landscape reference in a National Geographic article on Alaska. I liked that look because it gave the picture a weird appearance.”
The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Enhanced Edition) Page 11
