# Star Wars rumors that did or didn't pan out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509 "2005-10-29T21:59:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/1 "2005-10-29T21:59:43Z")
I was about nine years old when _Return of the Jedi_ came out, so after seeing it, of course, I was completely obsessed (as were many other kids on the playground) with the movies, collecting the cards, discussing the best bits, and trading rumors we’ve heard. Which rumors had you heard (prior to Lucas actually sitting down and writing _The Phantom Menance_… so pre-1997? Or maybe even pre-General Thrawn?) about the series over the years, and did they end up true or false? Here are some that I remember: 1. Boba Fett - He was the most often discussed on my playground and tons of rumors surrounded his mysterious past. A. He was a clone. Status: _True_ B. Since he was a clone, he couldn’t be killed (i.e. blaster shots would go right through him and his body was riddled with such through-and-through blaster holes under his armor). Status: Probably _False_… although apparently he survived the Sarlaac pit. C. There were thousands of other clones of him that fought in the Clone Wars. Status: _Semi-true_. He was cloned from the person who was used to make all the clones in the Clone War. 2. Obi-Wan Kenobi - He was a clone (number OB1) made from an original to fight in the Clone Wars. Status: _False_ 3. Darth Vader - He was in the walking iron-lung due to falling into a lava pit while fighting Obi-Wan Kenobi. Status: _True_ 4. The Clone Wars A. Both sides used clones. Status: _False_ B. When the war began to get out of hand due to both sides using clones, they mutally agreed to stop using clones in the battles. Status: _False_ ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/2 "2005-10-29T22:21:59Z")
The biggest rumor was that there would be nine movies in all. _Star Wars_ (not subtitled _A New Hope_ yet) would be Episode IV, kicking off the middle trilogy. There would be another trilogy of movies set before the events of Episode IV and another trilogy set after events of Episode VI. We got the Episodes I-III, but not Episodes VII-IX. Lucas now denies that he made any claim of planning post-ROTJ episodes. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/3 "2005-10-29T22:24:12Z")
Yeah, that’s what I heard after the first movie. The rat-bastard. It’s not like there isn’t enough money & talent in Hollywood to make the sequel trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/4 "2005-10-29T22:33:53Z")
I have a slight highjack, but it is about rumours; All documentaries and TV programs make out that the “Darth Vader is Luke’s Father” was a huge shock to the audience. Was it, though? Seems to me, in the good tradition of film spoilers, at least _some_ people would have known beforehand. I’m not old enough to have seen the OT when they came out, but the only rumour I heard about the PT was that Samuel L. Jackson was going to be in it. Which was true. Hell yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/5 "2005-10-29T22:57:50Z")
I heard the lava pit rumor after the First One. I’m not sure where it originated (i.e. with George or not), but it’s probably one of the oldest ones. I heard that the Clone Wars involved clones of Palpatine, who had himself repeatedly cloned because the Dark Side destroys the body quickly and one of the clones rebelled. _False_ I heard that Boba Fett was a lizard warrior. _False_ I heard that Uncle Owen was Ben’s brother (which I believe was even in the novelization of EMPIRE) _False_ I heard there was going to be a Holiday Special featuring the Wookie holiday Life Day with some odd guest appearances including Harvey Korman, Jeff Bea Arthur and Art Carney, a plot focusing on Chewbacca’s family and a song by Carrie Fisher. Status:_ABSOLUTELY FALSE! IT NEVER EVER HAPPENED!_ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/6 "2005-10-29T23:07:58Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Seems to me, in the good tradition of film spoilers, at least _some_ people would have known beforehand. Generally, no. It was a big surprise, even to fans who had been obsessing over the upcoming sequel and devouring any available news the whole time. You have to keep in mind that us nerds in 1980 didn’t have _Ain’t It Cool News_ and ten-thousand similar sources of information. If you wanted _Star Wars_ info, you pretty much had _Starlog_ magazine and a few of its lesser imitators – and if you were one of the cool kids (or not) you had a subscription to _Bantha Tracks_, the official _Star Wars_ fan newsletter. Any substantial speculation about what was going to be in the new films had its roots in what was released to these mags. We’d see some tantalizing production stills or concept art, or a few very general interview statements about what the film would be like, but the “Vader is Luke’s daddy” thing didn’t slip out until after the release. That’s not to say there weren’t spoilers – for instance, nobody who was obsessively following the development of _The Empire Strikes Back_ was surprised when the weird little green guy turned out to actually _be_ Yoda. [/hj] Anyway, for me, the single biggest _Star Wars_ rumour that didn’t pan out was that _Revenge of the Jedi_ was going to feature a huge battle between Wookies and Imperial forces. We were pretty much unambiguously told as much. And then, when _Return of the Jedi_ was released, after all that buildup… sigh. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/7 "2005-10-30T00:31:23Z")
The biggest rumor I remember around Empire was that you get to see Darth Vader without his helmet … which turned out partly true (he took his helmet off, but you only saw the back of him). Even after the movie came out, we would get into big arguments over whether Darth was really telling Luke the truth or not. ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/8 "2005-10-30T01:57:24Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > I have a slight highjack, but it is about rumours; All documentaries and TV programs make out that the “Darth Vader is Luke’s Father” was a huge shock to the audience. Was it, though? Seems to me, in the good tradition of film spoilers, at least _some_ people would have known beforehand. There is a rather lengthy segment on this in the Empire of Dreams documentary that came with the Old Trilogy DVD boxed set. The only people who knew were Lucas, Kershner, and Kasdan. They didn’t even tell Mark Hamill until the day they were filming the scene. All of the scripts said that Vader reveals “No, Obi Wan killed your father.” That’s even what David Prowse said during the filming. Hamill was told what the real line would end up being and reacted to that as opposed to what Prowse was saying on set. So that means only 4 people knew the truth until the movie actually played on opening day. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/9 "2005-10-30T02:01:53Z")
The rumor was that Episode 1 was going to be a really good movie, with Jar Jar Banks as lighthearted comic relief. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/10 "2005-10-30T02:04:11Z")
Yeah, it was an utter, jaw-dropping surprise to me on Opening Day for Empire. I skipped school to see it (I was thirteen). I just about died there. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/11 "2005-10-30T02:15:41Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > There is a rather lengthy segment on this in the Empire of Dreams documentary that came with the Old Trilogy DVD boxed set. The only people who knew were Lucas, Kershner, and Kasdan. They didn’t even tell Mark Hamill until the day they were filming the scene. All of the scripts said that Vader reveals “No, Obi Wan killed your father.” That’s even what David Prowse said during the filming. Hamill was told what the real line would end up being and reacted to that as opposed to what Prowse was saying on set. So that means only 4 people knew the truth until the movie actually played on opening day. That’s pretty impressive that James Earl Jones could voice-act lines that he _didn’t even know_ (not just “Luke, I am your father,” but also “Son,” etc.). He\*must \*be strong in the Force, to be capable of modifying his _own_ memory! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/12 "2005-10-30T02:22:15Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > There is a rather lengthy segment on this in the Empire of Dreams documentary that came with the Old Trilogy DVD boxed set. The only people who knew were Lucas, Kershner, and Kasdan. They didn’t even tell Mark Hamill until the day they were filming the scene. All of the scripts said that Vader reveals “No, Obi Wan killed your father.” That’s even what David Prowse said during the filming. Hamill was told what the real line would end up being and reacted to that as opposed to what Prowse was saying on set. So that means only 4 people knew the truth until the movie actually played on opening day. > [@Tarrsk](#): > > That’s pretty impressive that James Earl Jones could voice-act lines that he didn’t even know (not just “Luke, I am your father,” but also “Son,” etc.). Hemust be strong in the Force, to be capable of modifying his own memory! Yep, i’ve got that DVD, and I remember the part. IIRC, they don’t actually mention JEJ as being a person who knew, though presumeably he did remember his own voice work 😛 But yeah, I’d still say it was possible to be leaked. At that time, sure, only those people knew, but what about editors during the…well, editing process? And people who saw preview showings (both cast/crew and public)? And didn’t they have the grand film advertising tradition of today wherein the **entire plot** is spoilt in the trailers? ---
**Author:** ![Soapbox\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Soapbox\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soapbox_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/13 "2005-10-30T02:33:48Z")
> [@Tarrsk](#): > > That’s pretty impressive that James Earl Jones could voice-act lines that he _didn’t even know_ (not just “Luke, I am your father,” but also “Son,” etc.). He\*must \*be strong in the Force, to be capable of modifying his _own_ memory! > > 😉 DURP! I forgot about him. :smack: Make it 5. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/14 "2005-10-30T02:48:51Z")
> [@Soapbox Monkey](#): > > DURP! I forgot about him. :smack: > > Make it 5. 😃 Actually, I’d heard that Hamill didn’t know and he _was_ reacting to Prowse’s line - after all, Luek had had this intense connection with Obi Wan, and even in the short time they spent together, came to think of him like a father. After all, it was Obi Wan who guided Luke to victory. and Obi Wan who lead Luke to a spot on the snowy icy plain where Han could easily find him. So to hear such an outrageous claim as this man, for whom he had a great deal of affection and trust, was the one who had actually killed his biological father. Why…why…that would mean Ben had _lied_ to me! My world is in shambles! _ **"Noooooooooooooo!!!"** _ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/15 "2005-10-30T02:57:17Z")
^^^No, I’ve seen an interview with Hamil (God knows where, but I did) in which he confirms that he was indeed taken aside by Lucas or Kirshner, or whoever and told what the real line was going to be. I seem to remember that they absolutely did not want to let Prowse know as he might leak it. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/16 "2005-10-30T03:00:47Z")
^^^ phooey. ok fine. I still like my version better. nyah. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/17 "2005-10-30T03:01:22Z")
To the OP: I don’t know how widespread it was, but I and my fellow sixteen-year-old fans in 1980 were sure that “There is another,” by Yoda referred to Han Solo. We just “knew it,” based perhaps on him getting his comeuppance after sneering at Ben’s mumbo-jumbo (or whatever he called the Force) in the first film. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/18 "2005-10-30T22:45:25Z")
I’m pretty sure I saw somewhere that it was going to turn out that Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side after being seduced by a female Sith. Cite anyone? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/19 "2005-10-31T00:14:50Z")
I remember a rumour that began somewhere vague that all the Stormtroopers were clones. In the 90s my friends and I had fairly well decided that this wasn’t true. So had the EU, as many novels and comics had them as regular joes, including Han Solo. Well, gee, looks like the rumour originated from within Lucasfilm sometime, because it’s turned out to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-rumors-that-did-or-didnt-pan-out/328509/20 "2005-10-31T00:33:41Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I remember a rumour that began somewhere vague that all the Stormtroopers were clones. > > In the 90s my friends and I had fairly well decided that this wasn’t true. So had the EU, as many novels and comics had them as regular joes, including Han Solo. Stormtroopers, to my knowledge, weren’t clones. I imagine there were clones among them that were leftover from the Clone Wars, but i’m 100% sure that not all Stormtroopers are clones, based on the EU. It seems that after the end of the Clone Wars a recruitment policy was enacted (though I don’t recall it being spelt out as such ever). Stormtroopers are, however, run through a lot of psych testing to make them more loyal. And to my knowledge, Han Solo’s never been a Stormie. He did go to the Imperial Academy, which trains Imperial Officers, however, and won the Corellian Bloodstripes ( Yep, i’m a geek) for some service he performed in that role, before leaving them.