Harrison Ford Refuses to appear in Return of the Jedi

The answer to this is simple, Han dies from being placed in carbonite inside of Jabba's palace. It's one final sadistic joke for Jabba the Hutt to experience for someone who betrayed him. Lando takes his place down on Endor and someone else takes the helm of the Millennium Falcon to destroy the Second Death Star, probably Chewbacca, in a way that would avenge the death of Han in part at the hands of the Empire.
 
The answer to this is simple, Han dies from being placed in carbonite inside of Jabba's palace. It's one final sadistic joke for Jabba the Hutt to experience for someone who betrayed him. Lando takes his place down on Endor and someone else takes the helm of the Millennium Falcon to destroy the Second Death Star, probably Chewbacca, in a way that would avenge the death of Han in part at the hands of the Empire.

Well, I think there's more to the question than that. Lucas clearly wanted Return of the Jedi to be a lighter, more toy friendly, film, than either of the films that preceded it. That instinct is why Han wasn't killed off, despite elements of the creative team advocating for such an outcome. Here Han has to die, and that makes the film darker than Lucas wants. Also, Han's death raises the question of how the romantic subplot works out, given that a decision had clearly been made in Empire for Han and Leia to be the couple, even if the secret sibling idea had not been finalized then as the resolution. Here, Han is dead, so that situation is a little more complicated. Rather than being siblings, Luke and Leia might end up together, or they might both end up alone. Even if Lucas was planning on the siblings plot by then, he could change his mind. After all, that sort of thing happened repeatedly with Lucas and his creative team.

Beyond that, there's the question of Harrison Ford's career. If he makes the decision late enough, he can still be in Raiders of the Lost Ark. But not returning to Star Wars could result in tension between Lucas and Ford, to the point where Raiders may not have a sequel, or the role of Indiana Jones might be recast. Either of those options would have an impact on Ford's career in the 1980's. Also, there's the question of what Ford would do instead of the third Star Wars film.
 
Yeah, that's what I was meaning. No Ford - No Han - No Rescue - No Bikini scenes

You know what--you're absolutely right! :eek: Just goes to show you how long it's been since I last saw ROTJ.

Here Han has to die, and that makes the film darker than Lucas wants. Also, Han's death raises the question of how the romantic subplot works out, given that a decision had clearly been made in Empire for Han and Leia to be the couple, even if the secret sibling idea had not been finalized then as the resolution. Here, Han is dead, so that situation is a little more complicated. Rather than being siblings, Luke and Leia might end up together, or they might both end up alone. Even if Lucas was planning on the siblings plot by then, he could change his mind. After all, that sort of thing happened repeatedly with Lucas and his creative team.

Also a fair point. I still think that Leia could end up with Lando, since without Han, we could see Lando go through more character development to gradually atone for selling his old friend out. Could make Lando wearing Han's clothes in TESB less awkward--or maybe more so, if it's used as foreshadowing. What are your thoughts?
 
If you don't mind a little speculation on my part regarding what ROTJ would be without Ford ...
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Geon

I quite like that outline, but you'd need the Ewoks for Toy mech reasons. Have Chewie in the Falcon with Lando 'for revenge' and Leia, Fett, Ewoks and Driods taking down the base and I think it's fixed.

Whoops- just saw the age of this thread!
Apologies all.
 
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