IGN’s latest installment of Watch From Home Theater arrived just in time to mark the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. Actors and certified Star Wars geeks Rahul Kohli and Sam Witwer joined in to reflect on the very first Star Wars sequel and the many fascinating stories about its creation.
If you missed the livestream, fear not. You can re-watch it in the video embed above. But if you just want to know the coolest details revealed during the chat – or if you want to find out new details about the canceled Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 3 – then read on.
Teasing The Force Unleashed 3
Before Witwer became the voice of Darth Maul, he made his Star Wars debut playing Starkiller, the main character in the 2008 video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and its 2010 sequel. Unfortunately, that sequel had a troubled development history, and The Force Unleashed III is one of many Star Wars games that never saw the light of day. That’s all the more frustrating given that The Force Unleashed II ends on a cliffhanger that most likely will never be resolved.
When asked about LucasArts’ plans for The Force Unleashed III, Witwer revealed how the sequel would have picked up from the ending of the previous game (which showed Starkiller defeating Darth Vader and leaving to bring Vader into Rebel custody). The short answer? Starkiller would have discovered his former master is far more devious and powerful than he realized.
“At the end of The Force Unleashed II he cuts off Vader’s hand and captures him,” said Witwer. “I’m not comfortable sharing everything we discussed, but the idea was, that was the biggest mistake ever, and that Vader, like he was toying with Luke, the Force Unleashed I and II games were all about Vader toying with Starkiller. And at some point, there would be a confrontation where Starkiller’s fighting Vader, and everything that worked before suddenly isn’t working now. He’s like, ‘I cut off your hand!,’ and Vader says, ‘That wasn’t my hand. I have no hand.'”
Witwer continued, “Starkiller’s fighting and Starkiller says, ‘How are you doing this?’. Vader answers simply with whatever the first line in the original Star Wars script was, which I believe was, ‘I am Lord Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.’ It was something along those lines, and that ends the conversation. He’s no match for this guy. There’s a little spoiler for an alternate universe.”
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Luke’s Suicidal Leap
As you might expect, both Kohli and Witwer had plenty to say about the iconic scene where Luke learns the truth about Vader and chooses to plummet into the depths of Cloud City rather than join his father. One of the big focal points of the chat involved Luke’s sudden burst of confidence as he chooses to jump. Witwer is of the opinion that this wasn’t a show of confidence, but rather Luke being resigned to his fate. He thinks Luke intended to jump to his death.
“My take on it wasn’t ‘I have full faith this is gonna work.’ My take is that it’s ‘My failure is complete. You’re not going to get me and I’m done. I’m finished. I made the mistake. Yoda was right. Ben was right. I should have listened. I’m done. I’m gonna kill myself, because the worst thing would be to go with this guy.'”
“Also he’s hanging there and begging for help, and Ben doesn’t answer,” Witwer continued. “So it’s still desperation. My interpretation is that there wasn’t pride there, because he’s got one hand and he can barely hang on. It’s just painful.”
Kohli had a different take, suggesting Luke was remembering his early training with Obi-Wan, learning to trust in the Force, and make a leap of faith. “Or, does it hearken back to his training? The first time he trusts in his training again, when Obi-Wan tells him on the Death Star to use the Force, trust your instincts and let go and let the Force guide you. Could it be that? Could it be a throwback?”
To which Witwer responded, “I interpreted it as a fall from grace. He just found out his father is Space Hitler. He’s falling from the pure light of the hero, and the next time we see him [in Return of the Jedi] he’s in a dark cloak.”
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Re-releasing the Original Movies
With the entire Skywalker Saga recently being released on 4K Ultra HD, Lucasfilm seems no closer to caving to fan demands and re-releasing the classic versions of the original trilogy movies. Both Kohli and Witwer offered their thoughts on that eternal Star Wars debate – should the original movies be made available again, or do the Special Editions deserve to be considered the definitive Star Wars?
Kohli said, “I don’t think there’s a straightforward answer for that. At the end of the day, if George feels he wants to do that, that’s his work. Who are we to say that? We don’t have ownership of that. That was something that we wanted to put out and that’s his expression, so I understand if he doesn’t want someone to see his rough draft. I find it really difficult to watch one of my shows – I can’t watch the pilot. I want people I care about to skip the first season, because I haven’t got the character yet and we haven’t developed it. I know it was good at the time, but actually, just jump straight to the other stuff… It comes from a place of insecurity. So I understand that on a certain level. Maybe when he watches it, it brings up those same failures. He can’t see just how magical it is for us.”
Witwer said, “I think there’s value in preserving the original because it was in the wild and that was people’s original experience with it. I think we should have both. I think George should mess with it as much as he wants. Maklunkey it, do it, it’s all good. But also give us the original so that we can experience both. Take A New Hope, since that’s the one that gets the most flak for having a Special Edition. Well, a lot of those changes are good changes. Turning Mos Eisley into a city. If they have to go through Casablanca to get to Lisbon – if Mos Eisley is Casablanca, then, well, it’s gotta be Casablanca.”
Witwer also had an interesting insider tidbit to reveal about the Cloud City scene and the infamous change made for the Special Edition re-release (the added sound bite of Luke screaming while he falls). While George Lucas tends to get the blame for those controversial edits, Witwer hinted that Lucas wasn’t the one responsible for this particular change. He said, “The person you think is responsible was not responsible.”
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Why Luke Is Like Darth Maul
The Clone Wars is notable, among other things, for adding much more depth and nuance to Darth Maul. Witwer offered some insight into how Maul’s character arc was developed on the series and the surprising way in which he and Luke Skywalker are alike. That conversation stemmed from the beginning of Luke’s duel with Vader. Luke is the first to draw his saber, showing he hasn’t learned his lesson from the Dagobah cave and still resorts to violence as his first solution. And in that way, he’s all too much like Maul.
“The thing I always felt was a responsibility with Maul was – Luke Skywalker, Han and Leia – they do learn from their mistakes. They do evolve,” said Witwer. “I don’t know if we were conscious of this at first, but the whole thing with Maul is that he’s a villain whose thing is he does not learn from his mistakes. He makes the same mistake every time. He’s just trying. ‘Well, if I do it harder. More angry. If I can push my way through this.’ Like in Greek mythology, he’s Sisyphus. He rolls the boulder up the hill, and then he stumbles at the last minute and it rolls down the hill, and he rolls it back up again, and he does that for eternity. And we did that, because what was our goal? Our goal, ultimately, in Clone Wars was how can we shade in the Luke story and make it even better? How can we make the Luke story even more? Let’s create the opposite. Maul is the opposite.”
Witwer continued, “We did weird things in Clone Wars, things that were challenging – Mortis, Yoda going off with the Whills, all this weird stuff – but what you want to do is create things that make you see things in a different light, but hopefully a cooler light. Hopefully a light that makes it more glorious and makes it more impressive.”
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Why Lando Is Wearing Han’s Clothes
Plenty of Star Wars fans have pointed out how weird it is to see that final shot of Lando and Chewie in Episode V and realize that Lando isn’t just piloting Han’s ship, he’s even wearing Han’s clothes. That seems a bit gauche, even for a scoundrel like Lando. Both Kohli and Witwer have their theories about Lando’s wardrobe change and why that scene doesn’t paint Mr. Calrissian in as bad a light as it seems.
Witwer jokingly suggested Han has actually been wearing Lando’s clothing this entire time, but he did note it was a subject that came up during the filming of Solo: A Star Wars Story. “When we were working on Solo, we talked about that. Why does Lando [wear Han’s clothes]? Well, now we’re going to find out. He goes through cape, cape, cape, Han Solo vest, cape, cape, cape.”
Kohli had a more practical explanation for this wardrobe change. “Maybe Lando never goes back to Cloud City. He’s on that ship and he’s gone. He’s exiled, right? I guess it’s under Empire control. He can never go back. That was the deal. Vader’s not going to leave Cloud City neutral. Just assume he’s a fugitive. He’s a refugee.”
Witwer concurred. “Just assume he had no clothes. His cape was dirty. It smelled.”
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Be sure to check back next week as we reveal the next movie in the WFH Theater series and what celebrity guests you can expect.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Star Wars: Sam Witwer Teases the Canceled Force Unleashed 3