It's one of the longest-running debates among Star Wars fans, except it's not much of a debate: did Han shoot first? The vast majority of fans are adamant that he did when he pulled the trigger on Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina, forever securing his place in pop culture history as the bad boy with a heart of gold.
Indeed, that was the way it all played out in the original 1977 Star Wars, but since then, George Lucas has repeatedly said that Greedo is actually the one who shoots first. He even edited later versions of the film to make it appear so, in the process, drastically changing the character of Han.
So, who's correct? Are fans correct? Or is the creator of the franchise? According to Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew, Han did, and always will, shoot first. The actor has been tweeting pages of his original Star Wars script over the past few weeks, and today, he revealed pages that detail Han's fateful encounter with Greedo.
In it, an unnamed alien described as "slimy" and "purple-faced" with a "short trunk nose" confronts a young Han about paying Jabba what he owes. Much of the dialogue between the two remains the same as in the final film. Han tells the alien that Jabba can have the Millennium Falcon "over his dead body," to which the bounty hunter that is later known as Greedo responds, "That's the idea, Solo."
Before Greedo can pull the trigger, Han guns him down by blasting him with his laser pistol under the table. It's about as classic as it gets. You can read the script below.
#chewscript 014 Han Shot First. Period. @starwars pic.twitter.com/4tGOOsRp2l
— Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars) March 2, 2016
It seems like the debate may finally be settled, then. After all, who better to know Han Solo than his co-pilot Chewbacca? It looks like players of Star Wars Battlefront will soon be able to settle the decades-long debate themselves when EA adds Greedo to the game in an upcoming expansion pack.
