Tons of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews exist for the Star Wars original trilogy, with many deleted scenes and original script ideas open to the public. However, one of the most obscure pieces of behind-the-scenes trivia comes from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, which originally featured a creature so silly, the crew couldn’t bring themselves to film it.
During the opening of Return of the Jedi, C-3PO and R2-D2 enter Jabba’s Palace to offer themselves as a gift from Luke Skywalker. As they walk around, they’re met with a plethora of exotic species of all shapes and sizes. From the long-lipped Pa’lowick singer to the giant slug who sits in charge, Jabba’s Palace is full of some of the weirdest species in the entire franchise. Yet even in Jabba’s Palace, one character stood out as being far too weird for the film, with small glimpses of them provided only through a couple of set photos.
Two production photos show C-3PO being escorted by a Gamorrean Guard, presumably when he first enters the palace. But leading the two is a man dressed all in black, with long arms and light-bulbs all over his body. Simply dubbed “The Lightman” on production documents, this character is filmed walking through a passageway and was supposedly meant to be a guide through the darkest areas of Jabba’s Palace. With the obvious costume and wiring, it’s assumed the character was meant to be replaced by a luminescent creature by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), with the lightbulb costume providing accurate lighting as it moves.
However, it’s clear the look didn’t go down well, as the footage was abandoned and quickly forgotten. But with Return of the Jedi being shot 40 years ago, some set photos have begun cropping up again on social media. Phil Tippett, who worked on creature design, shared his memories of the character on Twitter. Captioning a small clip of the creature walking, he simply says, “Looked just like that. Everyone laughed. Never got shot.”
Even if the intention was to add an alien in post-production, it’s clear the whole look was simply too goofy for anyone to take seriously. And it seems further plans for the character were scrapped, as call sheets used for the film schedule reveal the costume was also meant to be used leading down to the Rancor Pit, which of course is never seen.
George Lucas has gone back to the original trilogy film numerous times and re-edited them to include new visual effects. Jabba’s Palace includes perhaps the most questionable new effects, as the palace band is replaced by an obviously-CGI character looking at the camera and singing out loud, which many fans have criticized for taking them completely out of the film. Yet it seems even The Lightman was too much for Lucas, as the character has barely been seen or mentioned since.
The character designs for Star Wars have always been expertly crafted, and ILM was way ahead of its time with its visual effects, so the character could have turned out better than thought on set. But with no released concept art hinting at The Lightman’s intended look, all fans have to go off of is the janky-looking lightbulb suit. It definitely doesn’t make a good impression, and many agree it is best left out of the film.
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