In 1997, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, George Lucas re-released the original trilogy—this time with additional scenes and special effects. While most changes were largely unoffensive, others now feel like a harbinger of the CGI-fueled nightmare that would be The Phantom Menace (only two years into the future).
Here's a quick refresher:
And then...there's this:
Twenty-two years later, it's hard to be a Star Wars fan and not be well-versed in the "Han Shot First" debate. The original idea (I assume) was to make it seem like Han wasn't a cold-blooded killer, but that he acted in self-defense. The only problem being that a) Obi-Wan describes this cantina as a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" and not a den of squeaky-clean heroes and b) it cheapens Han's overall arc, since he wasn't such a bad guy from the outset.
Now, there's a new version: Both Shot...First?
With the release of Disney+ and its 4k version of the Star Wars films, Greedo says...something (the internet has decided it's "Maclunky")...and they both simultaneously shoot at the same time.
Disney says this change came before Disney's acquisition of the franchise in October 2012, meaning this is an edit by George Lucas himself.
So in the grand debate of Han vs. Greedo, Lucas chose a third option:
For fear of getting too meta about something that is so inherently dumb, it does once again illustrate Star Wars' tonal duality, a 42-year-long tug-of-war where a grim war movie like Rogue One can coexist with cartoon alien rabbit like Jar Jar Binks.
In some ways, this new Greedo scene fits perfects as Disney tries to thread the needle and make Star Wars universally beloved by adults and kids alike. Though admittedly, this isn't a great start.
Darren lives in Portland, has a cat, and writes/edits about sci-fi and how our world works. You can find his previous stuff at Gizmodo and Paste if you look hard enough.
