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George Lucas’ original draft for The Star Wars was brought to life as a Dark Horse comic, and parts of that story set up The Phantom Menace.
George Lucas’ Star Wars franchise was born when A New Hope launched in theaters in May 1977, but that original adventure was not the first form that this far, far away galaxy had taken in Lucas’ mind. He had been toying with his science-fiction universe for years before creating his movie, and his original vision lived on in a short Dark Horse Comics series: The Star Wars.
This short comic series was based off an earlier manuscript for the franchise, which has many vital Star Wars pieces in place, but arranged differently and connected in unexpected ways. The Star Wars, spanning only eight issues, told a movie’s worth of story and had clear parallels to 1999’s The Phantom Menace. Perhaps Mr. Lucas looked back to this prototype when creating the first installment of the prequel trilogy.
How The Star Wars Resembles The Phantom Menace
The overall plot and setting of The Star Wars may feel like a hybrid of The Phantom Menace and A New Hope, but it seems to lean closer to The Phantom Menace, especially if condensed to an elevator pitch. The story revolves mainly around the peaceful plant Aquilae, home to unique and advanced cloning technology that the Empire seeks. The Empire sends its forces to invade and capture Aquilae, and the planet’s few defenders are quickly overwhelmed, even with the tough General Luke Skywalker leading the defense. Skywalker flees the planet with a handful of allies, such as Kane Starkiller and his son Annikin, and they end up on a forest planet where the native Wookiees volunteer as allies. The Wookiees help Aquilae’s defenders launch a counterattack on the Empire’s forces in Aquilae’s orbit, the Imperial battle station is destroyed, and Aquilae is free at last.
This plot has a “destroy the Death Star” sequence like A New Hope, but the saga of saving an innocent planet from a superior invading force is more akin to the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo, and the development of enlisting primitive Wookiee aid is a clear precursor to Padme Amidala recruiting the Gungan army to help keep the Trade Federation’s forces busy during the final battle. Another similarity is the plot of fleeing the invaded planet once the original battle is lost, and sneaking the queen off-world to find help elsewhere.
How The Star Wars Influenced The Other Movies & Games
Dark Horse’s The Star Wars also shares plot threads and scenes with several canon Star Wars features, primarily Episodes I and IV. All three stories feature a wise, experienced Jedi mentor who gives his life for the sake of a younger apprentice: Kane Starkiller in The Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi in Hope and Qui-Gon Jinn in Menace. All three movies feature a final space battle against the enemy battle station, and in each fight, it’s not a fleet that saves the day, but a single fighter pilot with incredible luck and skill. Each movie also features a brave heroine, and between these three, Padme needs the least help from her allies, while Hope‘s Princess Leia needed rescuing aboard the Death Star, and The Star Wars version of Princess Leia is captured and rescued as well..
The Star Wars has a few visual motifs and names that would inspire later material in the Star Wars franchise, such as the name Annikin Starkiller, which clearly lent itself to Anakin Skywalker and the Starkiller apprentice found in The Force Unleashed. Early in The Star Wars, two Aquilae farmers are seen in a vehicle resembling an AAT battle tank, although this connection may be present to past, rather than past to present.
This comic series also features a Sith Lord named Valorum, a masked swordsman who switches sides to betray Darth Vader in the final issue. In The Phantom Menace, the current chancellor of the Republic is a certain Finis Valorum, until he is replaced by Sheev Palpatine halfway through the film. Prince Valorum bears little resemblance to Finis Valorum, and instead has elements of Darth Vader.
Finally, an early scene in The Star Wars depicts C-3PO and R2-D2 fleeing the Imperial battle station when it took damage in the first space battle, and as they depart aboard a lifepod, C-3PO notes that the damage doesn’t look so bad from his perspective. This clearly inspired C-3PO’s similar line about the Tantiv IV in the opening battle of A New Hope.
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