Star Wars: This Rogue One Character Was Originally Named After George Lucas

Even years after its release we’re still finding out new details and trivia about Star Wars movies, including the ones made by Lucasfilm and Disney which seem to have an exhaustive amount of extra details. For films like Solo and Rogue One that have gone through an extensive amount of re-shoots and re-writes there’s even more details to be uncovered, and yet another one has been revealed about the first “Star Wars Story.” Interesting enough, the reveal ties the film back to The Maker himself as C-3PO might say.

When asked by a fan on Twitter what the origin Mads Mikkelsen‘s character name, “Galen” Erso, screenwriter Gary Whitta (who wrote the first draft of the screenplay) revealed that he didn’t come up with that name but had originally named him in tribute to Star Wars creator George Lucas.

“I created the character but I didn’t name him Galen,” Whitta wrote. “In my draft his name was Walton, as a tribute to George (it’s his middle name).”

Though Galen was given a different name in later drafts, the “Walton” part stuck around as it is officially listed as the character’s middle name, just like George. As you may recall from the film, Galen was one of the designers of the weapons system on board the Death Star but was also responsible for a subtle piece of sabotage on the ship which ended up making it vulnerable to attack by the Rebel fleet (as seen in the original Star Wars). Considering his major place in the franchise’s lore thanks to the film, it’s fitting that he would be named after the series’ creator.

Whitta has been very open about the various differences in the final cut of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and his original draft, even revealing additional details about it this week including a cut sequence from the final act of the movie.

“Rebel ground troops bunkered in around the Imperial comms tower on Scarif, stormtroopers can’t break through to get to Jyn who’s on her way to transmit plans,” Whitta said. “Vader says, ‘Put me on that beach.’ Carnage ensues. You ended up seeing something like that in the corridor scene though.”

Fans of Rogue One won’t have long to wait before the world of that film is expanded on screen either as Disney+ is developing a prequel series focusing on Cassian Andor and K-2SO. Actors Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk are set to reprise their roles along with Rogue One co-writer Tony Gilroy who has been enlisted to both write and direct installments of the new series.