Disney+ made another weird change to Star Wars’ “Who shot first?” scene

Ben Kaye

The post Disney+ made another weird change to Star Wars’ “Who shot first?” scene appeared first on Consequence of Sound.

Disney+ went live today with its fair share of glitches. To be fair, that’s not entirely surprising for a major technological product launch. What was unexpected, however, was a bizarre change made to one of the streaming service’s prize assets: Star Wars.

For the second time, the infamous “Who shot first?” scene in the Mos Eisley Cantina has been altered to make it appear more certain that Greedo pulls the trigger before Han Solo. Now, it’s the bounty hunter who gets in the last word, exclaiming, “Maclunkey!” before blasts are exchanged.

In the original 1977 version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, it’s pretty clear that the roguish Solo (Harrison Ford) shoots first. There are multiple cuts to Han’s blaster under the table (Chekhov’s gun, much?), you only hear one shot being fired, and Han has the cheeky final line before Greedo drops dead. However, in George Lucas’ ill-conceived 1997 special edition re-edit, Greedo fires first, missing at point-blank range before Solo retaliates.

Now, Disney+ has added an extra second of footage: a close-up on Greedo as he says, “Maclunkey!” Apparently, Lucas signed off on the change prior to Lucasfilm begin acquired by Disney in 2012 (via EW).

As journalist/author Bryan Young points out, the word has actually been uttered in another Star Wars film, Episode I: The Phantom Menace. In that movie, podracer Sebulba says it to a young Anakin Skywalker, a threat that roughly translates to, “This will be the end of you.”

Clearly, this is an attempt by Lucas, Disney, and whoever else is involved to make it even more abundantly clear that Solo isn’t a cold blooded killer. The thing is, no one ever really thought that to begin with. Solo is a rapscallion of a smuggler who looks out for number one, and more often than not that gets him into trouble. Greedo corners him either to kill him for the bounty or bring him back to Jabba so the Hutt can have the honor; of course Solo’s only option is to shoot his way out. For many fans (like this writer), it doesn’t matter how many edits they make: Han shot first.

Though it may have made a mockery of the very first piece of the Star Wars universe, the launch of Disney+ also saw the debut of the latest entry in the franchise with The Mandalorian. Hopefully Jon Favreau pulled off the series without any additional maclunkey malarkey.

The Mandalorian is one of nearly 450 movie titles and 7,500 television episodes currently featured on Disney+, including other originals like the live-action Lady and the Tramp movie.

Disney+ made another weird change to Star Wars’ “Who shot first?” scene
Ben Kaye

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