George Lucas Defends Greedo Shooting Han Solo First in Star Wars

In an interesting Washington Post profile of George Lucas, the Star Wars creator defended his infamous bit of Special Edition tinkering that shows Greedo shooting Han Solo first rather than the smuggler taking the initiative.

In the original edit of 1977's debut Star Wars film, we saw Han shooting first in Mos Eisley's cantina, but Lucas says that it ran against the character's principles, "Han Solo was going to marry Leia, and you look back and say, ‘Should he be a cold-blooded killer?'" Lucas asks. "Because I was thinking mythologically — should he be a cowboy, should he be John Wayne? And I said, ‘Yeah, he should be John Wayne.' And when you're John Wayne, you don't shoot people [first] — you let them have the first shot. It's a mythological reality that we hope our society pays attention to."

During Entertainment Weekly's recent interview with Harrison Ford, the actor refused to take sides on this debate."Knock yourself out," he said. "Have fun with it.", but The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams had a clear opinion on the debate when asked during a Sirius XM Town Hall on Monday if Han shot first. "Hell yes," Abrams said. '

Fans have long believed that Lucas is wrong. Han shot Greedo first as that established Ford's character as somebody not to be messed with, and scene is clear in showing that Greedo was going to kill Han anyways, so Han waiting for Greedo to take a shot at him at point blank range just doesn't make any sense.

So who do you think shot first: Han Solo or Greedo? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

See Harrison Ford reprise his role as Han Solo in Star Wars; The Force Awakens, which will be released in U.S. theaters on Dec. 18.