One of the coolest moments in The Force Awakens was Rey’s “Forceback.” The Force allows Rey to experience events in the past, including the climactic fight from The Empire Strike Back between Luke and Vader. While we in the audience hear Vader’s breathing and spot the corridors of Cloud City, we never actually see the famous duel recreated through Rey’s eyes. While there were rumors it was reshot for the flashback sequence, they’ve just been rumors. But now a photo has emerged, seemingly of the actor who would have played Luke in that scene in full costume, which you can see in the tweet below from the folks at Making Star Wars.
Back in the day I reported that Robert Boulter was playing young Luke in a Star Wars: The Force Awakens flashback. This picture is going around today. https://t.co/VdFwJO9RD2 pic.twitter.com/QOy2zu1syK
— Jason Ward (@MakingStarWars) November 26, 2018
[brightcove video_id=”5973891831001″ brightcove_account_id=”3653334524001″ brightcove_player_id=”rJs2ZD8x”]While it’s still unknown if the infamous duel was actually recreated, this image suggests it got as far as being camera tested. While the film certainly didn’t need the Luke vs. Vader moment to work, it would have certainly been cool to see. But we suppose that The Force Awakens already had enough callbacks to the original trilogy, and maybe J.J. Abrams thought featuring a recreation of a key scene would be one step too far.
Pure speculation here, but with Carrie Fisher’s footage as General Leia from The Force Awakens being used for Episode IX, could they do something similar for the young Luke vs. Vader scene as well? Who knows, but if it was indeed shot, we doubt that it will remain in the vaults forever.Would you have liked to have seen Luke vs. Vader in The Force Awakens? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.
Images: Lucasfilm
