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Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda Force Ghosts Almost Helped Luke Skywalker In ROTJ Fight Against Darth Vader


One of the most memorable moments in Return of the Jedi was undoubtedly the surprise appearance of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi's Force ghosts (who will be later joined by Anakin Skywalker in the remastered version) watching the Rebels celebrating on Endor. However, an older version of the Star Wars film's script reveals that the dead Jedi Masters almost joined the action between Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.

The revelation was made by Lucasfilm creative art director Phil Szostak who shared some details about the 1981 version of the script written by George Lucas. Take a look at the tweet below.

"In George Lucas' February 1981 rough draft of #ReturnoftheJedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Yoda return 'from the netherworld' to aid Luke Skywalker in his battle with the Emperor. The Jedi, including Luke's father Anakin, are later seen resurrected at the Ewak [sic] celebration," Szostak wrote. He also added the hashtag #StarWars.

This certainly would have been awesome considering that people barely got to see Yoda and Obi-Wan in action in the original trilogy. Unfortunately, Lucas chose to remove the action sequence involving the Force ghosts of the Jedi Master and decided to let Luke take on the villains himself.

But what could be the reason why the Force ghost action scene was scrapped? There is a possibility that it had something to do with all the special effects involved in the sequence. Either way, ROTJ worked perfectly without Yoda and Obi-Wan stepping in to help Luke.

Although Yoda and Obi-Wan didn't get much action in the original trilogy, this was later remedied when their younger versions wielded lightsabers in the prequel trilogy.

Do you think Return of the Jedi would have been better with some Force ghost action scenes? Sound off in the comments below.

Related: Star Wars: Rey's Hinged Lightsaber In TROS Was Originally Designed For Clone Wars Character

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