George Lucas changed the ‘Han shot first’ scene. Again.
After Disney+ launched yesterday and the Star Wars franchise made available on the new streaming platform, it seems like Lucas has edited the controversial Han Solo-Greedo scene again.
The Verge reported that according to one of Disney’s representatives, Lucas made the change before Disney acquired the franchise in a $4 billion deal in 2012. This new iteration of the scene of Lucas’s original 1977 film was first noticed by Star Wars Visual Comparisons on Twitter. The new scene shows Greedo saying something to Han Solo (Harrison Ford) in the Mos Eisley Cantina on the planet Tatooine.
Han shot first right? Or did Greedo shoot first? Was it an acid trip? Was I dreaming about the scene? I think I need a nap. This has been widely and aggressively debated for years now.
The infamous scene shows Han Solo and the Rodian bounty hunter in a very taut discussion about the money that was owed to Greedo. The original clip shows Han shooting first, but the Special Edition release of Episode IV shows Greedo shooting at Han first and made it one of, if not the most infamous moments of the Star Wars franchise.
This new version shows something different, as Greedo says something, “Maclunkey”, first before shooting though, without an accompanying subtitle. Solo then shoots after and is followed with an explosion to cover the transition between Greedo hitting the table, thus removing the ‘Greedo dummy’ from the scene.
New edits aren’t a new thing to the franchise, however, as the original trilogy has had multiple changes over the years. Audio changes were made, making the visuals more cleaner for the audience and a lot more.
People on social media had a blast with this new rendition that generated a lot of buzz on the internet after Disney+’s release yesterday.
Dave Itzkoff, a New York Times reporter said via Twitter that he couldn’t believe that they changed the scene yet again, with a photo of the original scene on his tweet.
CNN reporter Frank Pallota jested that he was looking forward to the original trilogy to be re-released twenty years from now with another set of edits where ‘Han and Greedo hug.’
The attention that this new edit generated was as much as the premiere of The Mandalorian, which was one of Disney+’s first shows on the streaming platform and has had favorable reviews as of this writing.