As I noted in my review of the “Star Wars” novelization, adaptations of movies give insight not only into the authors’ interpretation of the material, but also into the filmmakers’ vision months before the movie hits screens. Alan Dean Foster’s “A New Hope” novel came out six months before the film, so it serves up a treasure trove of differences from the celluloid version. “The Empire Strikes Back” novelization (1980), on the other hand, came out just six weeks before the movie, so there aren’t as many differences here.
Again, I contend that a novelization is partly the work of the author — in this case, Donald F. Glut, whose only other “Star Wars” credit is Marvel Issue 10 — and partly the work of the screenwriter, in this case primarily George Lucas (even though he officially gave credit to Lawrence Kasdan, plus an honorary credit to the late Leigh Brackett). The prose is Glut’s, but he was working from the most up-to-date script of the movie, and scripts of course include dialog, character behavior and location descriptions.
“Star Wars” had become a more tangible thing by 1980 than it was in 1976, so the “Empire” novelization is cleaner than “A New Hope.” That works against it when re-reading it today; Foster’s pulpy sci-fi style makes for a fun almost-alternate take on the material, whereas Glut’s adaptation is straightforward. There’s not much he got “wrong” in 1980, other than having the ion cannon blow away a Star Destroyer rather than merely immobilizing it (page 50 of the Illustrated Edition) and having an astonishing “twenty Imperial battleship commanders” as part of the Falcon pursuit group (page 95). Most of the things that caught my attention as being “wrong” are because of changes made as the Expanded Universe went forward.
Here are some of the highlights:
THE CONVOLUTED FATES OF THE SNOWSPEEDER PILOTS
Did Wedge, Janson and Hobbie survive the Battle of Hoth? Well, Wedge clearly does, as he’s in “Return of the Jedi.” As for the other two, it depends on who you ask.
Hobbie seemingly dies on page 68: “Hobbie’s burning ship crashed through the walker cockpit like a manned bomb, its fuel igniting into a cascade of flame and debris.” However, this scene isn’t in the final cut of the movie, and West End Games’ “Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back” (1989) decided that Hobbie did indeed crash into a walker, but he survived and made it to the rendezvous point. Hobbie went on to become a popular character in the “X-Wing” novels and comics.
Wedge gets away from Hoth just fine in the novel. On page 74, “Luke could hear the sound of Wedge’s fighter roaring into the sky toward the Rebel rendezvous point.” Janson also departs at this time, although he’s merely called “Wedge’s gunner” in the novel, which doesn’t include Wedge’s “Good shot, Janson!” line. Luke is the last Rebel to depart the snow planet.
But in Marvel Issue 78, “Hoth Stuff!,” Wedge and Janson are stranded on Hoth, thus explaining why they hadn’t appeared in the post-“Empire” Marvel comics. As Wedge’s survival tale is recounted, writer David Michelinie mistakes Wedge’s backstory for that of Biggs, which is pretty unforgivable. Then he kills off Janson, which was fine continuity-wise at the time, except that Janson pops up again the “X-Wing” novels and comics. He’s sort of a comedy team with Hobbie.
The continuity gurus at Lucasfilm somewhat salvaged “Hoth Stuff!” by saying it’s a tall tale that Wedge sometimes tells to new recruits.
THE EMPEROR: FROM PUPPET TO PUPPETMASTER
In April 1980, the only insight into Emperor Palpatine came from Foster’s “A New Hope” novel, where he is portrayed as a figurehead. To read that novel, one would assume Darth Vader is the galaxy’s Big Bad and other top Imperial officials are making their own power plays in the Emperor’s name. But the Emperor himself is content to sit behind the scenes and enjoy the status that comes from so many powerful people needing him to stay on the throne. No further insight into the character is given in the Marvel comics or other materials before 1980, as that was declared off-limits by Lucasfilm.
In what would’ve seemed jarring at the time, Glut and Lucas portray Palpatine as we now know him: As someone who actively pulls the strings in the Empire, and whom Vader bows down to, literally and figuratively. His line, “There is a grave disturbance in the Force” (page 114) strongly implies that he’s a Force user. Still, when Vader says “Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. … Join me …” (197), a reader might combine that with Foster’s writings about a weaker Emperor and think Palpatine really can be defeated by a novice Jedi like Luke. Perhaps Vader just wants someone to do his dirty work.
It’s not until 1983’s “Return of the Jedi” that the Emperor’s status as a Force-user more powerful than both Vader and Luke is crystal clear.
WHEN DOES VADER LEARN ABOUT LUKE SKYWALKER?
For many years, it was one of the biggest mysteries in the saga, right alongside the question of “At what point do the Imperials decide to let the Rebels escape the first Death Star?” That “A New Hope” mystery never gets resolved, but the “Empire” mystery is cleared up in Glut’s book – sort of.
Glut’s prose is a bit vague, but the most logical interpretation is that Vader does know about Luke Skywalker before his holographic communication with the Emperor. After Palpatine mentions “the son of Skywalker” on page 114, Vader thinks “Skywalker! The thought was impossible. How could the Emperor be concerned with this insignificant youth?”
He’s not reacting like this is the first time he heard the name. And indeed, in both Marvel Issue 35 (“Dark Lord’s Gambit,” released before the movie) and Dark Horse’s “Vader’s Quest” (released after), Vader learns that someone named Luke Skywalker blew up the first Death Star. We never get a scene where Vader is 100 percent certain that Luke is his son, but Glut’s prose suggests Vader is not surprised to hear the Emperor confirm that he has a son; rather, he’s surprised that the Emperor considers Luke a threat.
This became clearer in the 2004 DVD release when Lucas added this exchange: “How is this possible?” “Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true.” More strongly than in the original film and in Glut’s prose, this dialog exchange implies that this scene marks the first time Vader is certain Luke is his son. And thus he begins to develop his plan for turning Luke to his side.
TOY-SELLING TERMINOLOGY
In Foster’s book, none of the species are named other than Wookiees, and many vehicles are generically named – for example, the Rebel blockade runner is a “galactic cruiser” and the Star Destroyer is an “Imperial cruiser.” Glut’s book is a marked contrast, featuring capitalized terms like “Wampa Ice Creature,” “All-Terrain Armored Transport” and even Yoda’s “Gimer Stick.” A reader half expects a “TM” trademark logo to appear after these names.
On the other hand, the concept of a Super Star Destroyer – and specifically the Executor — must’ve been finalized after the script Glut received. On page 40, the author describes it as a “mammoth Imperial Star Destroyer. … The sleekly elongated ship was larger and even more ominous than the five wedge-shaped Imperial Star Destroyers guarding it.” TIE bombers also don’t get named; they are called “Imperial cruisers.”
Interestingly, neither the Super Star Destroyer nor the TIE Bomber was part of the 1980s Kenner toy line in a proper sense, although the former was released as a playset (Darth Vader’s Star Destroyer Playset, the triangular nose of the bridge plus Vader’s meditation chamber) and the latter as part of the die-cast model line. But in general, it seems like if a vehicle got a proper name in the book, it was planned as part of the toy line.
BONUS CONTENT
When the Special Editions came out in 1997, “Empire” had the fewest changes because it was the tightest film to begin with. The same goes for the trilogy of novelizations: There aren’t a lot of “bonus scenes” in Glut’s book. A major deleted scene from the Bluray – the wampas attacking the snowtroopers after C-3PO removes the “danger” sign – isn’t even in the book, suggesting that the filmmakers added that subplot late in the game and then scrapped it.
We do get a few “bonus” moments, though:
- The probe droid attacks a wampa (page 16) and a Rebel trooper (40).
- Luke must cut up a metal bar and take on a swarm of seeker balls during his training with Yoda (pages 121, 132, 153 and 163).
- Lobot (not named in the book) has one verbalized line: “Maybe you should have tried to negotiate with him” (170). He doesn’t speak in the movie, as we’re led to believe he communicates through his headgear, although we’d later learn in the Marvel comics and the “Black Fleet Crisis” trilogy that Lobot does indeed talk.
All told, while “Empire” is the best “Star Wars” movie, it’s the least interesting novelization. It’s not that Glut necessarily does anything wrong – although his writing style is flatter than Foster’s, for instance — it’s mainly that the book falls short of other five Lucas “Star Wars” movies in giving added dimension to what we see on the screen.