Mark Hamill has revealed George Lucas’ answer to the ultimate Star Wars question – why did it all begin with Episode IV? Viewers were no doubt surprised back in 1981, when George Lucas retroactively added “Episode IV” as a subтιтle to the first Star Wars movie. Since then, there’s been unending debate about the best Star Wars viewing orders, and it doesn’t really help that the franchise continues to hop around the timeline.

Speaking on the Smartless podcast, Mark Hamill has revealed he asked Lucas that during production.

“I said to George, ‘Why is this Episode IV? Why haven’t we started with Episode I?’ And he goes, ‘Episode I, there’s a lot of exposition, it’s more political. This trilogy is much more commercial…‘

The way I understood it was that he originally planned four trilogies… When we were shooting, I asked him about the first trilogy, and he said, ‘This is more commercial, there’s a lot of exposition, political, about taxation, blah blah blah…’ He wanted you to feel like you walked into a serial chapter play and you’d missed the first few episodes, that’s why they had the crawl, to bring you up to speed.”

It’s reasonable to ᴀssume Hamill asked this during production of The Empire Strikes Back, because that was when Lucas first began bandying the episode тιтles around. It was also after Lucas had settled on the idea Luke Skywalker was Darth Vader’s son, which would become the backbone of the entire Skywalker saga.

Star Wars Wouldn’t Have Been A Hit If It Began With Episode I

George Lucas’ Instincts Were Right

Lucas’ instincts were right; I doubt Star Wars would have been anywhere near as big if he’d tried to begin with Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. For one thing, it would have been almost impossible to make that movie with 1970s technology and fight choreography. Meanwhile, the episodic format does indeed lend itself well to the idea of being thrown into a story partway through, helping create the sense that this galaxy is a real place.

Personally, this was one of the reasons I fell in love with Star Wars in the first place. I experienced the saga completely out of order – I first watched A New Hope back in 1991, then headed out to the bookshop to pick up Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire. It didn’t diminish my enjoyment at all for the franchise, even though it did rather spoil some of the bigger twists when I got to watch The Empire Strikes Back.

So What IS The Best Star Wars Viewing Order?

George Lucas’ Comments Are A Clue

Let’s loop this back in to the immortal question: What is the best way to watch Star Wars? Lurking behind Lucas’ “more commercial” is the idea that A New Hope is a better jumping-on point for new viewers. It’s more likely to get people hooked, leaving them wanting more, leading to their enjoying the rest of the story.

In contrast, the strictly episodic approach – beginning with The Phantom Menace, and moving on – may be better for people who are already committed fans. They can watch the saga from beginning to end, spotting the thematic ties, already spoiled for the twist. Maybe that’s the real answer to which order Star Wars should be watched in: it depends.

Source: Smartless