Star Wars: Teras Kasi Almost Debuted in 'Rogue One'

Solo: A Star Wars Story gave fans plenty of obscure Easter eggs and references, but it sounds like one almost became canon a bit earlier.

Gary Whitta, who co-wrote 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, revealed that an earlier draft of his film initially included a mention of Teräs Käsi, a form of hand-to-hand combat associated with the Star Wars universe. In a tweet, which you can check out below, Whitta explained that Teräs Käsi would've played a role in the dynamic between Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and Saw Gererra (Forest Whitaker).

FUN SOLO FACT: Teras Kasi was originally in Rogue One (Saw trained Jyn to fight in that style) but it got cut. Glad to see it finally canonized! :)

— Gary Whitta (@garywhitta) June 7, 2018

For the uninitiated, Teräs Käsi first originated within the Legends canon, as a method for the Followers of Palawa to fight with Jedi. The fighting style was first introduced in Shadows of the Empire, but was most popularized within Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi, a 1997 video game that has earned a sort of weird notoriety amongst Star Wars fans.

In the new Star Wars canon, Teräs Käsi was first mentioned in the mobile game Star Wars: Uprising, before making two appearances within the recent films. According to Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary, the Praetorian Guards employed by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) were trained in the method, something that puts the film's throne room scene in a whole other context.

In Solo, Teräs Käsi was given a larger significance, when Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) revealed that she was proficient in the fighting style. This finally made Teräs Käsi canon, and even made some fans wonder if Qi'ra would go on to be Masters of Teräs Käsi protagonist Arden Lyn.

Even with Solo having so many intricate references to the previous decades of Star Wars media, it's safe to say that Teräs Käsi is one of the most obscure. And according to director Ron Howard, there's a very specific reason why those came into the film.

"To be honest, I left so much of that to [Solo screenwriters] the Kasdans, strangely not Larry," Howard told ComicBook.com. "This is the fourth of his that he's written, he actually doesn't even remember. It's not an age thing. He's focused so much on character and twists and turns. But his son Jon is a complete fanboy and I think most of those references were engineered by Jon Kasdan. I would hear them and love them, but I wasn't the one necessarily thinking of them. So I can't claim much authorship there."

Would you have liked to see Teräs Käsi play a role in Rogue One? Or do you think Solo was the perfect time to make it canon? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is in theaters now.