A 'REVENGE' WITHOUT THE EMPEROR?

Early concept art for the Emperor for REVENGE.

With the passing of time, SW fans and critics have acknowledged the incredible acting contributions and legacy brought to the Classic and Prequel sagas by Ian McDiarmid, with his portrayal of the truly evil, Dark Side lightning-bringing Emperor. But in the original story ideas being developed for REVENGE OF THE JEDI during mid-to-late 1980, this character's involvement wasn't locked down. Back then, Darth Vader was still clearly going to be the uber villain of the middle trilogy's final film, and not necessarily killed off, either.

Recalled Producer Gary Kurtz in a nineties interview: "Well, (first of all), the Emperor wasn't even supposed to have come into it, except in reference, as in EMPIRE, until the last episode of the series, the ninth one. Having the Emperor show up, in effect, emasculates Darth Vader as your chief villain."

From other previous sources, as well as further info from Kurtz, this originally conceived "ninth" film would have been about the final battle waged against a retreated Empire by the "other" (referred to in EMPIRE), and whom wasn't originally Leia, though still a female member of the Skywalker family- a character returned from a far-off realm to help our surviving older heroes.

THE US 'REVENGE' SNEAK PEEK...

Returning to US cinemas for a fourth time on 13th August 1982, the original STAR WARS latest re-release poster had an additional hook to pull in fans old and new: a teaser trailer for REVENGE OF THE JEDI. By November of that year, the rumblings of the titles changing back to RETURN were beginning to happen...

The Star Wars Saga US Release and Re-Release History | StarWars.com

'REVENGE' OF THE EWOK!

He may have only been eleven during the making of REVENGE OF THE JEDI, but Warwick Davis, seen here holding up a rare banner and an Ewok stick/club for an early UK newspaper article/interview, was clearly going to be one of the country's favourite acting talents by the noughties onwards, and a popular international ambassador for the franchise.

Extremley rare Star Wars footage - Return of the Ewok PT.1 - YouTube
Extremley rare Star Wars footage - Return of the Ewok PT.2 - YouTube

JAPAN GOES 'REVENGE'!

A selection of pages from a Japanese magazine promoting REVENGE OF THE JEDI with a very cool blue logo, alongside some great classic imagery. If anyone knows the magazine title and the exact publication date, please get in touch. We assume its from 1983, and even though the title had already changed to RETURN, as many of these published photos weren't released officially until nearer the film's theatrical dates.

With thanks to Chris Baker for image restoration.

'REVENGE' AT THE 1982 CHICON IV EVENT

Image: Maureen Garrett for BANTHA TRACKS in 1982.

A great little blog here about the very cool and very rare REVENGE OF THE JEDI exhibition and talk from the 40th World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago from 1982: Neato Coolville: REVENGE OF THE JEDI EXHIBIT AT THE 1982 CHICON IV