It is quite difficult to ascertain just how many films George had in mind down the years đ
Though if you back to the mid-late 1970âs era, before Star Wars '77 was a runaway success, George is on record stating he felt that Vader wasnât strong enough as a main villainâŚ
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LUCAS: âI wouldnât mind killing her off. (referring to Leia). The other thing we havenât dealt with is Darth Vader. But Darth Vader, as we discovered in this picture, tends to be pushy; heâs not strong enough as the villain to hold the villain role. He doesnât have the persona that you need. You really need a Cushing guy, a really slimy, uglyâŚ.â
LIPPINCOTT: âWhat if you unveiled him, unmasked him? Since he isnât strong enough to hold up. Unmasked him and started building up a new villain who could continue into the next?â
LUCAS: âThatâs an idea.â
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^ from the Star Wars Splinter Of The Mindâs Eye Story Conference article at Cinetropolis.net. A transcribed conversation at the time of discussing a sequel to Star Wars - âSplinter Of The Minds Eyeâ to not just be a novel - but a cheap-to-film sequel for Star Wars.
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So, itâs a possibility that George had thoughts on other main villains lined up for Vader to work under in the continuing movies somewhere along the line - which could well have been Imperial Moffs and the like. There is a fair bit more on Lucasâ point of view that Vader not being up to much in the linked article above.
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