Star Wars: Why George Lucas Abandoned His Plan To Kill Han Solo In Return Of The Jedi

Arguably one of the coolest characters in the "Star Wars" franchise is scruffy-looking nerf-herder Han Solo (Harrison Ford), who was initially going to get iced a lot sooner than he did in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." The plan was for Solo to die in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," which certainly would have made for a sci-fi movie with a very different ending. However, after careful consideration, the death was scrapped, sparking behind-the-scenes issues and prompting one creative voice to abandon this pillar of 70s fantasy movies altogether. 

In an interview with the L.A. Times, Gary Kurtz, who produced both "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back," felt that Han's death would have provided a more impactful ending than the one we got. "The original idea was that they would recover [the kidnapped] Han Solo in the early part of the story and that he would then die in the middle part of the film in a raid on an Imperial base," Kurtz explained. "George then decided he didn't want any of the principals killed. By that time, there were really big toy sales and that was a reason." 

This was one of the first of many creative issues that didn't sit right with Kurtz, including a gripe about the reconstruction of the Death Star: "So we agreed that I should probably leave." While Kurtz might not have had the ending he hoped for, fragments of it would reappear decades later in another "Star Wars" film. 

Instead of fireworks and dancing teddy bears celebrating the downfall of the Empire, Kurtz had an ending where the good guys won, only at a greater cost. "We had an outline, and George changed everything in it," Kurtz said. "Instead of bittersweet and poignant, he wanted a euphoric ending with everybody happy."

The initial draft saw the Rebel Alliance win the day, but end up in an even worse state than when we met them, with Leia taking the title of queen and the job that came with it. Meanwhile, the hero's journey of Luke Skywalker (who almost had a much darker name) saw him wandering off on his own, which Kurtz described as "like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns."

In hindsight, this alternate ending would've been more fitting given where the future trilogy and closing chapters of the Skywalker saga ended up. The route of the wandering loner aligns with the Luke we meet in "The Last Jedi," ending up as the forgotten hero who chose the life of a recluse. Had Kurtz and Lucas met somewhere in the middle, we might have had an even better ending in "Return of the Jedi" and, as a result, "The Rise of Skywalker." Then again, were that the case, we'd have missed out on a teddy bear party, which the franchise simply couldn't be without now.