Star Wars ➞ Recycled Concept Art

Ralph McQuarrie’s Star Wars concepts

Art by Ralph McQuarrie for the second Death Star. RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983).

Originally, the Rebel attack that’s the climax of the film was going to be on Had Abaddon, capital of the Empire. Hence those McQuarrie paintings of Coruscant I posted yesterday. If you read the story conferences for ROTJ, you can see it was a close call actually—the plan to use Had Abaddon comes back almost as often as it’s discarded—but eventually, to the others’ dismay, Lucas chose to go with a second Death Star. One of those What Ifs.

ROTJ was the first Star Wars film I saw, so for me it wasn’t a second Death Star: it was a rather eerie zombie construction that looked like the ghost of a dead moon. I thought it was a fascinating sight anyway.

Happy Halloween!

Concept Art of Darth Maul for Solo: A Star Wars Story by Jake Lunt Davies

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Concept Art | by Aaron McBride

Sandcrawler concept art by Joe Johnston

Concept art for a “gruff, opinionated Trandoshan” Jedi Master named Sskeer, from Marvel’s upcoming The High Republic comics.

v-150 Planet Defenders were large ion cannon emplacements designed for defense against starship assault. The cannons were powerful enough to shut down large vessels, but as they were completely immobile, they were vulnerable to ground assault.

Source: The Illustrated Star Wars Universe (1995)

First Appearance: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Battle of Hoth - The Empire Strikes Back concept art by Ralph McQuarrie (1978)

The amazing concept art of Ralph McQuarrie for Star Wars

Artbook: Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie

Merry Christmas, everyone!

‘Tis the season for Star Wars illustrations by Ralph McQuarrie.