- Time
- (Edited)
- Post link
In my conception Anakin is actually Beru's brother, with Owen as his brother in law (hence the two different last names). Anakin's goodbye with Owen is very tense, with Lars pointing out that he's walking away from his family to pursue some foolish quest with some crazy wizard. Beru has mixed feelings, understanding why Anakin wants to leave, but thinking he'll be safer on Tatooine. While perhaps not said literally, Owen makes it clear that he's in no hurry to see him again. (Leaving his family haunts Anakin later.)
Tatooine is featured well here, and is actually presented as one of the few outer rim planets looking at getting some development before the resource rationing and trade difficulties of the Clone Wars killed any chance of economic growth. Throw in the Empire's complete neglect of the planet for 20 years and you could probably have a pretty different picture of something like Anchorhead and Mos Eisley in the first prequel in comparison to A New Hope.
You could probably in a sense present three variations of the Tatooine: the one with burgeoning development and some planetary authority in the first prequel, one with abandoned buildings and decay in the meeting between Owen/Obi Wan, and finally the craphole we see in a New Hope. Not only does this demonstrate the effects of the war, it also gives characterization to Owen, illustrating him as a guy who not only had his brother in law walk away, but also watched as his promising life got completely ruined by a war and a conflict he had nothing to do with. But with all the work they've put into it, he and Beru can't really leave.
Not hard to imagine how bitter a man could get in that scenario, especially if Anakin had stayed, then perhaps they could have salvaged something more out of it. Hence when Obi-Wan shows up at the end of the third film, Owen is still angry that Kenobi took his brother in law away, but Beru does convince him that looking after Luke is what's best. With this history in mind it demonstrates why he's reluctant to let Luke leave, and why he tells Kenobi that he'll never see Luke again and take him away like he did Anakin. It doesn't just extend to his fears of him turning into his father, but also at losing another member of his family when Owen is maybe just now finally gotten the farm to a reasonable success after such a long time.
So overall, I think given that Tatooine's the only location that would appear in both series, I do think, there's enough there to really do something with and not just present the exact same planet.