PL94 presents HIWWAM - SW IV ANH (1977)

Hello faithful DeviantArt artists and deviants, and welcome to what I am proud to call the first edition of How I Would Write & Make, where I or any one of you takes a piece of popular culture (a film, television series, novel, video game or whatever) and imagine an alternate perfect universe in which the piece is still successful and or influential to the culture at large, but you list 26 total differences in which the new version would differ from the original and therefore appeal to you. This week, I am tackling a major piece of popular culture that had a major influence in writing, movie-making and movie marketing at large. Yes, I am talking about George Lucas' 1977 epic Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.

Where were you in 1977 when this film came out? What about the times it was re-released and gained the subtitle Episode IV - A New Hope after so much time of just being called Star Wars? At first, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (20th Century Fox) distributed it, but with the sale of Lucasfilm and future Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies to Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Walt Disney Pictures) in 2012, there was always the tiny feeling that Star Wars was sort of a Disney film waiting to become a Disney film. Lucas himself said Disney might have wanted to make the film if Walt Disney himself were still alive in the 1970s, saying that Walt had vision and was not averse to risks.

In this edition, we are going to take a look at an alternate universe in which Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope has a similar path in terms of development as well as certain author appeal elements that will make it enjoyable and hopefully others are eager to indulge in this and other concepts that would certainly change up the basic story but not too drastically. Reflecting how Disney owns Star Wars now yet and how Fox distributed then, this universe would have Disney and Fox both financing the film at the then staggering for an independent filmmaker on his third feature $25,000,000.00 budget. Fox would have North American distribution rights while Disney has international distribution rights.

    1) First off, the film would open with the 1985 Walt Disney Pictures logo before fading to black and hearing the 1953 Fox Fanfare with the CinemaScope extension by Alfred Newman over the contemporary Fox logo to see the Lucasfilm logo over the final extension of the fanfare so that it blends almost seamlessly into John Williams' brilliant score. The beginning of the film would play similarly to the version in our universe with the blue on black words "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...." leading into the opening crawl with "Star Wars" and "Episode IV - A New Hope" anticipating the verbatim worded opening crawl from the original version that will lead off into us tilting down to Tatooine orbit.

    2) We open on the Corellian CR90 Corvette or Rebel Blockade Runner the Tantive IV being chased and fired upon by the massive Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator towards the atmosphere of Tatooine. Like with Adywan's version, the hit by the Devastator crippling the Tantive IV rocks the frame and the engines shut down and stop glowing. Inside, the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 hear the noise as their ship is drawn into the hangar bay of the Devastator by tractor beam and grappled into place by magnetic pincer lock. As rebel troopers gather near the main access hatch and train their blasters on it, a brunette woman in white joins them and takes out a generic chrome cylinder to activate its white blade.

    3) Yes, this woman is Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) of Alderaan - and she has a generic lightsaber with chrome hilt and white blade generated by it. This is your standard garden variety lightsaber, meaning the other types with different colored and shaped hilts and different colored blades are marks of different Force-wielding orders or sects like the Jedi and Sith. When the Imperial Stormtroopers of the reformed 501st Legion cut through the door, Leia deflects some of their blaster fire with her lightsaber - indicating she has had some form of Jedi training under the now MIA Ahsoka Tano, pupil of her presumed dead biological father and aide to her foster parents Senator Bail and Breha Organa.

    4) When the Stormtroopers keep pouring into the Tantive IV and shooting down her men trying to protect her, Leia spots the droids and herds them into the escape pod areas to hide and receive new instruction. Soon, the Apprentice Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Vader boards the ship and makes his way to the bridge to interrogate the ship's commanding officer Captain Raymus Antilles. Leia meets up with a similarly garbed woman with blonde hair who could pass for the princess. This is Lady Winter Retrac (Terri Nunn); handmaiden, bodyguard and adoptive foster sister to Leia who helps Leia record a message and insert a special holodisk into R2's memory disc socket as Leia and R2 move.

    5) Winter has disguised herself as Princess Leia as the real Leia drags 3PO along with her and R2 into two escape pods. Leia sticks a tiny silver box into her escape pod as she and R2 with 3PO in R2's pod eject from the Tantive IV out of the Devastator's bay towards the skies of the desert planet Tatooine below. Finished choking the life out of Captain Antilles, Vader orders his troopers to ransack the ship for the Death Star technical readouts and bring the passengers to him alive. Here, unlike the film in our universe, Vader's voice is 4% slower or about half a semitone lower in pitch. Winter takes Leia's place aboard the ship as she tries to fight off the troopers and is captured by Vader's forces.

    6) Apparently, Leia and Winter's ruse is a success as Leia used a scanner jamming device in her escape pod to mask her escape as well as Winter being believed to be Leia herself with Vader and his men none the wiser for Leia's escape until Stormtrooper Commander Praji reports two escape pods being ejected during the fighting towards the planet surface. As the Devastator gets underway back for the Death Star with a company of 501st Stormtroopers heading down to recover Leia and the droids, the three fugitives have already thrown the search party off track by 3PO choosing the Dune Sea against Leia and R2 taking the Jundland Wastes. They are reunited by nightfall at a Jawa Sandcrawler.

    7) Leia and the droids would be taken by the Sandcrawler to the Lars Homestead and moisture farm where the Jawas put droids up for sale to Owen Lars, his wife Beru, and their nephew Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who is the same age as Leia. Off the bat, Leia volunteers herself as a free of charge ready farmhand in need of food and shelter if her droids are allowed to be purchased by Owen. Owen and Luke agree, and the three fugitives have a place to stay. Luke still dreams of life outside the Outer Rim Territories as he converses with Leia as they clean R2 and give 3PO an oil bath. While cleaning up R2, Luke discovers Leia and Winter's message requesting help from Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.

    8) Telling his uncle and aunt about the message but resigned to the fact that he might never leave Tatooine, Luke ponders his future against the binary sunset of Tatooine while Owen and Beru ponder whether to tell Luke the whole truth and let him leave. In this version, Owen is more understanding of the circumstances around Obi-Wan, Darth Vader and their relationship to Luke's presumed dead father and would often speak highly of Obi-Wan who goes by the name of "Old Ben" Kenobi. The next morning when R2 goes in search of Kenobi after the restraining bolt was removed from him; Luke, Leia and 3PO take Luke's X-34 landspeeder towards the Jundland Wastes where Sand People track their moves.

    9) When Luke and 3PO are attacked by the Sand People, Leia and R2 would hide in a rocky alcove until the cries of a Krayt dragon (tracked and mixed from the 1977 and 2004 versions in our universe) scare the Sand People off. It turns out to have been mimicked by a hooded figure who reveals himself as Obi-Wan "Old Ben" Kenobi (Alec Guinness) who helps Luke, Leia and the droids back to his massive hut. As Luke and Leia fix 3PO up, Obi-Wan chooses his words carefully as he reflects on how his former pupil the Jedi Knight-turned-Sith Lord Darth Vader betrayed and murdered Luke's father and helped the Sith Emperor exterminate the Jedi Knights to help the Empire replace the Old Republic.

    10) Leia shows Luke her lightsaber as Obi-Wan gifts Luke with his father Anakin Skywalker's blue-bladed lightsaber. Torn between staying on Tatooine to help his family and joining Leia and Obi-Wan in going to Alderaan, Luke opts to take them to Anchorhead. On the Death Star, Darth Vader's interrogation of Winter and his meeting with Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) and the rest of the Death Star's senior staff are relatively unchanged from the film in our universe. On the way to Anchorhead, Luke discovers the destroyed Sandcrawler and slaughtered Jawas indicating an Imperial presence is on the planet - and after a race home, Luke discovers his family has been killed and he must leave.

    11) Arriving at Mos Eisley Spaceport, both Leia and Obi-Wan use the Force to manipulate the minds of a Stormtrooper roadblock into letting them pass to find a pilot to take them to Alderaan at the Mos Eisley Cantina. Inside the cantina, two bullies pick on and threaten Luke when Leia and Obi-Wan activate their lightsabers slicing Dr. Evazan from chin to groin and leaving Ponda Baba minus one arm. Leia hands Chalmun some credits to keep the patrons quiet, and the three meet with the Wookiee Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) to find his captain Han Solo (Harrison Ford) who may be willing to take them to Alderaan and other destinations in his modified YT-1300 freighter the Millennium Falcon for a price.

    12) Leia is not looking for creature comforts - just a ship capable of avoiding any Imperial entanglements for herself, Obi-Wan, Luke and the droids. When a price of 10,000 credits in advance is the base fee, she suspects Han is really in debt with Jabba the Hutt if he needs that much money. She and Obi-Wan offer 2000 in advance plus 15,000 when they reach Alderaan - but she is willing to pay 30,000 if they take them to the Fourth Moon of Yavin if the worst case scenario of Alderaan not around anymore occurs. Luke and Obi-Wan go off to sell his landspeeder for the 2000 while Leia and Chewbacca go to the Falcon to get her ready and Han shoots the bounty hunter Greedo before he can get a shot in.

    13) Han, Leia and Chewbacca arrive at the Falcon where Jabba the Hutt and some bounty hunters including Boba Fett are waiting for Han to pay up on a lost shipment. Leia uses her royal and senatorial charms to convince Jabba to give Han more time with the promise of more money and protection from the Empire for their more innocent business ventures. Leia brings Obi-Wan, Luke and the droids back with her to Docking Bay 94 to board the Falcon as she and Chewbacca prep the ship when a spy sends Stormtroopers to check out the Falcon. From the cockpit; Han, Leia and Chewbacca calculate the course to Alderaan as they manage to evade three Star Destroyers before making the hyperspace jump.

    14) Aboard the Death Star which has arrived at Alderaan before the Falcon, Vader and Tarkin are still under the impression that Winter is the real Princess Leia they have captured and not a decoy. Winter keeps this up even when Tarkin threatens to test the Death Star's power on the planet. Just like in the original film, Winter directs them to Dantooine - but Tarkin holds enough of a petty grudge against Senator Organa for holding views opposite the Empire's and demands Alderaan be destroyed anyway. Vader, still an old friend of the senator, warns Tarkin that such an act will only embolden undecided star systems in the Empire to declare their sympathies for the Rebellion even as the Death Star fires.

    15) En route to Alderaan, Luke and Leia are practicing lightsaber combat with Leia using Obi-Wan's lightsaber when she and Obi-Wan feel through the Force the destruction of Alderaan. The Dejarik chess game proceeds like in the film with R2 and Chewbacca going at it; but when Luke gets hit by the training remote droid, he and Leia both receive the blast shield helmets from Obi-Wan to tap into the Force to sense the droid. Leia urges Luke to stretch out with his feelings, and they manage to deflect the remote's blaster bolts. Just as with the film, Tarkin is told of Winter/Leia's lie and orders her execution until Vader stays it when they detect the Falcon entering the remains of the Alderaan system.

    16) Drawn into the Death Star by tractor beam, the Falcon is ordered to be searched by Vader. Luke and Han manage to steal Stormtrooper uniforms as the party makes its way to the gantry office above the hangar. Just like in the film, Obi-Wan goes off to shut down the tractor beam at a power terminal while R2 detects "Princess Leia" is being held in Detention Block AA-23. Knowing Winter is slated to be executed, Leia bribes Han into helping her and Luke in freeing her handmaiden. Taking Lieutenant Pol Treidum's black uniform, Leia disguises herself along with Luke and Han - with Chewbacca acting as their "prisoner" while 3PO and R2 make their way to a computer terminal in the hangar.

    17) A shootout occurs in AA-23, as the rescuers shoot out the sensors and security cameras to cover their tracks. Leia and Luke rush to cell 2187 and get Winter out while Han and Chewbacca buy time at the cellblock entrance. Vader senses Kenobi's presence in snooping in, out and around the labyrinthine corridors of the Death Star to make his way to the tractor beam and goes to tell Tarkin he must face Kenobi alone. All this builds up to Winter and Leia leading Han, Chewbacca and Luke down into garbage compactor unit 3263827 where Luke contacts 3PO and tells him to turn off all detention level "garbage mashers" and open their pressure maintenance hatches before the mashers can start up.

    18) While R2 sifts through the computer protocols to shut the garbage compactors down in time, Han and Leia try to save Luke and Winter when the two end up being grappled by a fearsome Dianoga's tentacles which try to act dirtily with Winter and her spoiled wet wardrobe. The compactors shut down in the nick of time, and the rescue party changes out of their stolen uniforms back into their other clothes they wore under the uniforms. They do take the Imperial forces' utility belts with them as Han shoots the Dianoga dead and they start making their way back to the Falcon just as Obi-Wan finishes covering his tracks by masking the power loss that has deactivated hangar 327's tractor beam.

    19) Of course; Luke, Leia, Han, Winter and Chewbacca run into Stormtroopers which leads to the Falcon crew blasting some and giving chase to them to give the others time to escape. While Winter takes Leia's place with Luke in the chasm crossfire to swing across it while Han and Chewbacca flee a battalion patrol of Stormtroopers, Leia sneaks on up ahead and plots her next move to take care of the troopers guarding the Falcon until Vader and Kenobi have their duel (complete with the Mustafar duel music from Revenge of the Sith like in Adywan's version). Luke and the Stormtroopers watch as Vader lets out a mighty roar to cut Kenobi down, with Luke screaming in horror at Kenobi's demise.

    20) Leia would then do something that would shock Luke and Vader while helping Luke kill the Stormtroopers and cut off Vader's access to the hangar. She would stretch out her hand and call Kenobi's lightsaber to her hand using the Force and activate it to deflect the blaster fire to the door control panel before they would board the Falcon and escape the Death Star. Winter would use Luke's poncho to comfort Luke's state of grieving, Han and Luke would man the Falcon's gun ports like in the film to destroy the TIE Fighter sentries in order to clear a path for Leia and Chewbacca to guide the ship to a safe hyperspace entrance while R2 and 3PO repair whatever damage and put out fires on the ship.

    21) Safely in hyperspace towards the Yavin system but being tracked by the Death Star, the warmer and more understanding Leia would alongside Luke try to mediate between the cold and detached Winter and the hot-blooded and carefree Han. The Falcon's captain is quite taken with Leia's graciousness towards his plight as well as her appreciation for his ship, and the trio (Leia, Luke and Han) ponder a future for them with Leia offering Han a position in the Rebellion if the Death Star is destroyed. Han and Chewbacca agree to take her up on it if the Death Star is destroyed and if Jabba is gracious enough to let them go. Arriving at Yavin, the briefing for the attack on the Death Star is near verbatim.

    22) In preparation for the Battle of Yavin, Luke and Leia (flying as Gold Eight for the Gold Squadron Y-Wings) would say goodbye to Han and Chewbacca as they prepare to take off. As 3PO boards Leia's Y-Wing as her gunner, Luke would share a reunion with his old best friend Biggs Darklighter (Garrick Hagon) from Tatooine now squad mate in Red Squadron's X-Wings. With R2 as his astromech, Luke would follow Leia and the other Rebel pilots to marshal the attack on the approaching Death Star. Four squadrons of fighters (Red - X-Wing, Gold - Y-Wing, Green - A-Wing and Blue - B-Wing) commence the attack to strafe the outer turbolaser defenses and get Gold Squadron's bombers to the exhaust port.

    23) Leia and Keyan "Gold Nine" Farlander (Colin Higgins) fly interference above Gold Leader Jon "Dutch" Vander (R. Lee Ermey)'s attack run which is being covered by young Gold Two Dex Tiree (Matthew Modine) and the grizzled yet experienced Gold Five Davish "Pops" Krail (Vincent D'Onofrio). When Vader and Death Squadron come out to destroy the Rebel fighters attacking, they first gun down young Tiree followed by a panicking Vander which forces even the cool-headed Pops to pull out before he is summarily killed too. As the Death Star approaches its firing position, Tarkin is warned of the danger posed as he orders all nonessential personnel to evacuate while he stays behind to fire the superlaser.

    24) All surviving fighters of Blue, Green and half of Gold squadrons break off to slow down the superlaser's charging while Red Leader Garvin Dreis (Drewe Henley) takes Reds Ten - Theron Nett and Twelve - Puck Naeco into the polar trench towards the exhaust port while Leia and Keyan stay with Luke - Red Five, Biggs - Red Three and Wedge Antilles (Denis Lawson) - Red Two and await the signal to start their run. Sure enough, Vader and Death Squadron take out Nett and Naeco as they cover for Dreis to make his run and fire his proton torpedoes which do not go into the exhaust port. They do however manage to severely throw the Death Star off its axis and buy a little more time for the others' run.

    25) Back on Yavin IV, Winter watches the battle tensely from the control room as Dreis is blasted out of the sky by Vader. Luke and Leia take the lead as they commence their ultimate attack run with Vader and his wingmen chasing after them. Wedge is damaged, so Leia and Keyan pull out with him to protect him. But when one of Vader's wingmen blasts Biggs out of the sky, Leia and 3PO dive back into the trench to get Vader between them and Luke making his run. As they close on the exhaust port, Obi-Wan urges Luke and Leia to use the Force and trust in it instead of their targeting computers. When Vader shoots R2 up, 3PO determines that they must take the Death Star down with them.

    26) Just in the nick of time, Han and Chewbacca show up in the Falcon to destroy Vader's wingmen and send the Dark Lord spinning out of control into the reaches of space while Luke and Leia fire the shots successfully into the exhaust port. All the fighters and the Falcon clear the Death Star's imminent blast radius just as it explodes and Vader escapes into hyperspace. Back at the Rebel base, a heroes' welcome is in order for the surviving pilots of Yavin as well as honoring the fallen heroes of Yavin. R2 and 3PO are made good as new in time for a medal ceremony which sees Luke, Leia, Han, Winter and Chewbacca awarded for their heroism and giving the galaxy a battle to rally the Rebellion.

And that's the first edition of How I Would Write & Make for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). It does not stray too far from the source material, but gives just enough to make it feel fresher and more innovative in my opinion. It even does a casting gag recalling what if Berlin's lead singer Terri Nunn (who performed "Take My Breath Away" for 1986's Top Gun) were cast as Princess Leia instead of Carrie Fisher. The potential for this version to pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test (with the Anita Sarkeesian addendum) before the term "Bechdel test" would even be coined might make this version even more of a success with more people over the many decade Star Wars would become popular.

A few reasons why Terri Nunn was not picked to be Leia range from her not having chemistry with Harrison Ford to Nunn being able to do cold and authoritative but without warmth and goofiness hidden underneath like with the late Carrie Fisher being able to do. So, in the tradition of Frozen's Elsa, I made Nunn's Winter a counterpart to Leia. This is just an Alternate Universe that I have proposed which is fun to imagine if things turned out differently. But as TV Tropes gleefully points out, Your Mileage May Vary on this - so let me know what your opinions on this idea would be and feel free to make a How I Would Write & Make entry with any works of popular culture you can think of, like this one!