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George Lucas explains why Greedo shoots first in Star Wars

November 30, 2015 by Gary Collinson

Originally published November 30, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.

It’s a question that fans have been asking ever since the Special Edition release of Star Wars in 1997: why oh why did George Lucas decide to have Greedo shooting first during the bounty hunter’s confrontation with Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina? Well, speaking to the Washington Post, Lucas has explained that he felt the way the scene originally plays out went against Han’s principles:

“Han Solo was going to marry Leia, and you look back and say, ‘Should he be a cold-blooded killer?’ 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.”

SEE ALSO: George Lucas on Star Wars: The Force Awakens straying from his original vision for the Sequel Trilogy

You can (kind of) see Lucas’ thinking here, but if Han already has such principles, doesn’t that detract from his character progression through the films? And how is it acceptable for him to shoot first at Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=G9WslvpHLAo

Filed Under: Gary Collinson, Movies, News Tagged With: George Lucas, Star Wars, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

About Gary Collinson

Gary Collinson is a film, TV and digital content producer and writer, who is the founder of the pop culture website Flickering Myth and producer of the gothic horror feature film 'The Baby in the Basket' and the upcoming suspense thriller 'Death Among the Pines'.

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