ZkinandBonez said:
Just remember that for a short while Lucas was considering making a low-budget sequel to cash in on the sudden success of ANH. He actually had Alan Dean Foster write Splinter’s of the Minds Eye with the specfic intentions of it possibly being the next SW film. He even told him to; avoid dog-fights because it would be too expensive to make, to contain the story to one planet, and to not include Han Solo in the plot because Ford’s contract hadn’t been renewed.
In addition to this, the first draft of ESB has Luke actually meed the Force-ghost of his father.
So Lucas is speaking BS when he claims that he had it all planned out from the beginning. He probably just bitter since Kasdan is getting so much praise now that so much of the fan-base doesn’t really trust him creatively anymore. So now he’s trying to “cover his ass” so-to-speak.

This is my first time hearing any of this, so thank you for that!