Unused Storylines For THE FORCE AWAKENS Revealed By Michael Arndt
Star Wars: The Force Awakens went through various stages of story development. There are a lot of different ways the story could have gone. I personally loved what we got, but thanks to screenwriter Michael Arndt, we now have some information on a different direction the film could have gone. The writer was working on the film long before J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan took over.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Arndt revealed his original vision for the story and why it didn’t work. Here’s what he had to say (spoilers ahead):
“Early on I tried to write versions of the story where [Rey] is at home, her home is destroyed, and then she goes on the road and meets Luke. And then she goes and kicks the bad guy’s ass. It just never worked and I struggled with this. This was back in 2012.”
He went on to talk about why it didn’t work. Basically, he didn't want Rey’s hero journey to be overshadowed by Luke. He explains:
“It just felt like every time Luke came in and entered the movie, he just took it over. Suddenly you didn’t care about your main character anymore because, ‘Oh f–k, Luke Skywalker’s here. I want to see what he’s going to do.’”
It’s very clear that from the beginning they wanted Rey to be the lead character in this story. They wanted people to focus on her character and the journey she went on, so it makes sense that they would put Luke on the back burner for at least this first film.
We don’t see Luke until the end of the movie, but now, of course, I want to see what Luke is going to do! It makes me wonder if they are going to keep him in the background throughout the trilogy or finally send him on his adventure with Rey.
There’s another part of Arndt's storyline that they never latched onto. The report explains that there was a section that revolved around the “search for Darth Vader’s remains, or a quest to the underwater wreckage of the second Death Star to recover a key piece of history about sacred Jedi sites in the galaxy.”
I won’t lie, both of those sound freakin’ fascinating! I’m completely happy with how the film turned out, though, and I’m excited to see that story continue.