Star Wars actor Daniel Logan has revealed that George Lucas changed a huge detail in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith after Samuel L Jackson fought against it.
The New Zealand-born American actor now believes that the decision had a detrimental impact on his career.
Logan played a young Boba Fett in 2002’s Attack of the Clones, when his father and bounty hunter Jango Fett (Tamuera Morrison) is killed by Samuel L Jackson’s Jedi character, Mace Windu.
In Revenge of the Sith, released in 2005, Windu is killed at the hands of the Emperor of the Galactic Empire, Sheev Palpatine, after Anakin Skywalker slices off his hand with a lightsaber. It leaves Palpatine clear to strike the Jedi Master with a fatal Force blast of lightning.
But Logan says it could (and should) have been very different, according to creator Lucas’ original plans.
“He should’ve been taken care of, and it should’ve been by me, because the Emperor, I don’t think did that good of a job,” said Logan during a spotlight panel at GalaxyCon Richmond, according to PopVerse.
“Darth Maul has come back to life so many times and he was chopped in half like four times,” joked Logan.
The actor revealed that he was due to return in the 2005 film, but was dropped at the last minute.
“George Lucas held me for Revenge of the Sith, and we had ‘Revenge of,’ but they hadn’t finished the title,” he continued.
“I believe it was probably going to be Revenge of the Fett, because the storyline, which you can go and see online, there was a storyboard that was already created that Boba Fett was meant to have another arena scene with Mace Windu.”
The storyboard he referred to was featured in Star Wars Insider #85, as well as the Making of the Revenge of the Sith book. The storyline would have seen Fett kill Windu. But Lucas later changed his mind, and Logan says it’s because Jackson intervened.
“Mace was going to come at Boba like he did with Jango, but because Boba had already experienced beforehand what had happened, I hit the jetpacks, I fly upside down, or on my back,” he explained.
“As I’m flying on my back with the jetpacks along the ground, I pull out Jango’s blasters and I shoot him right between the stomach, and that’s how Mace Windu was meant to die. I was sitting there at Lucasfilm, and they’re like, ‘Okay, we’re holding you for a year.’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ I kept calling, ‘Is it my turn yet? Is it my turn?’”
He explained, that at this point, Jackson interjected.
“Samuel Jackson went into George Lucas’s office and says, ‘You know, I don’t think that this young kid should have the power to be able to kill someone who sits on the Jedi Council. And plus, I don’t want to be killed by no punk kid.’ I happen to be that punk kid,” he said.
Logan hinted that Jackson’s decision had a knock-on effect on the rest of his career.
“If you’re going to ruin my career on that part, you could’ve at least given me an opportunity in the Marvel series. Like, ‘Hey kid, sorry you didn’t kill me in that, but you could be my friend and, you know, Iron Man, or something.’”
The actor did not return for any more films, but he did voice Boba Fett in The Clone Wars animated series and appeared in archival footage in The Book of Boba Fett.
