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Continuing our series about the one thing you would change in the Star Wars live action movies (not counting anything to do with Special Edition changes), we heard from Patron of the podcast Fred Butler, who said he’d like to have seen how Tom Selleck would have handled the role. Which is funny, because Selleck auditioned for Raiders of the Lost Ark, not Star Wars. That’s the kind of joke Fred would make. But while we’re on the subject, the people who could have been Han instead include, but aren’t limited to, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Burt Reynolds, Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Nick Nolte, and Jack Nicholson.
But Fred’s serious answer was that he would have made the Death Star “more fearsome.” When I asked for more details, he said, “More like a star. Flares. Corona. It’s just a big circle. Or a starfish-like shape to add to Pentagon-speculating comparisons.”
I get what he means – the first Death Star was kind of like the old-school zombies that used to walk reeeeeeally slow, before Zack Snyder did his Living Dead remake. The dread was in that it just wouldn’t stop, no matter what you did. The second Death Star, as a kid, I personally found that one scarier. The scarred and ripped rawness of it under construction, and then to find out that it was fully armed and operational! Of course, we never got to see it cruising through the galaxy under its own power, but man, it would have been scary if it did.
I’d also say the Borg cubes from Star Trek: The Next Generation owe a lot to Death Star II, wouldn’t you?
(Selleck pic via Fierce and Nerdy; Death Star art from The Art of Star Wars and The Art of Return of the Jedi.)
Star Wars Fun Fact
Surprising or little known Star Wars tidbits, sometimes related to today’s Force Feature.Did you know? There’s some disagreement about the sizes of the Death Stars… from the estimable Wookieepedia:
According to the Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections fact book, the first Death Star in A New Hope was 160 kilometers in diameter. The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film reproduces a sketch attributed to Ralph McQuarrie which shows 92 miles (148 kilometers). According to the Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy fact book and detailed scaling of the station in Return of the Jedi, the second Death Star was 900 kilometers in diameter. Some Expanded Universe sources state much smaller figures — 120 kilometers for the first Death Star and 160 kilometers for the second — however, most of the evidence argues for the larger sizes.
Of course, the Expanded Universe stuff doesn’t count anymore, but what did you think when you heard the second “even more powerful” Death Star being constructed? Did you think it was a little bigger, or enormously bigger? Have your say say in the comments!
Life on “Tweet”-ooine
A featured dispatch from the Star Wars Twitterverse!
@Marvel carried the #StarWars story beyond its comic book title in the pages of Pizzazz Magazine | (Part 1, Page 1) pic.twitter.com/dFJ1bvT5vW
— Marvel Star Wars (@MarvelStarWars) February 21, 2015
Star Wars Swag Bag
So many fun, quirky, and awesome ways to bring Star Wars into your daily life!McQuarrie’s Heroes – click the pic for details and to get it!
Trivia Time!
Test your knowledge of the Star Wars universe!Yesterday’s answer: “You, too”
Today’s question: Whose throne room was officially known as the “main audience chamber”?
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All of the actors you listed weren’t specifically up for the role of “Han Solo”, Lucas was involved with a massive casting call with 2 other directors – all of whom were casting for each of their movies. All 3 directors ended up seeing all of those actors in a massive general casting call (I believe for Luke Skywalker, for which Harrison Ford was reading the Han role just to get through it).
DEATHSTAR
– No, I really didn’t think at the time that the 2nd DS would be so much bigger.
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Hi Caine! Thanks for the reply. I think a few people definitely were considered for Han, including Al Pacino, who got a little spike of media last year when he talked about turning down that role specifically. But you’re right, I could have been more precise with my language about that.
And upon further reflection, I didn’t initially think Death Star II would be that much bigger, but when I think about Death Star I approaching Yavin, and Death Star II above Endor, I start to think that maybe II was in fact massively bigger…