A 1975 archived copy of the original Star Wars script reveals that Greedo just didn't move quickly enough...
NewsOne of the central points of contention when it came to George Lucas' 1990s Star Wars special editions was a re-edit that changed a scene in A New Hope. You know the one. It's the moment where Han shoots Greedo, and in the Special Edition, Lucas changed things so that Greedo fires the first shot. From pretty much point blank range. And missed.
George Lucas was always adamant that it was his intention for Greedo to fire first, arguing that "it had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down."
However, as adamant as Lucas has been that it was always his intention for Greedo to fire the first shot, it seems that the original screenplay disagrees.
A copy of it has been discovered in the University of New Brunswick library, dating back to March 1976. In this draft, Luke Skywalker is still known as Luke Starkiller and the film is still known as Saga I. But according to librarian Kristian Brown at the university, "I'll tell you one thing, right now. Based on the script, I can tell you 100 percent, Han shot first."
So, just to put this to bed, then. It seems that George Lucas did originally have Han shooting first. Decided over time that he didn't like it. Changed it. Annoyed a good chunk of, but not all, Star Wars fans as he did so.
Mystery solved? Or had we all kind of guessed that anyway?
