Listen, Star Wars fans, it could always have been worse. Sure, not everyone likes the changes George Lucas has made to his iconic film series. (Han always and forever shot first.) But if Lucas had been given free rein on the sequel trilogy, fans might have marched with pitchforks and torches on Skywalker Ranch.

Lucas had some truly nutty plans for Episodes VII–IX, according to a report from CBR.com that cites a Lucas interview published in a book meant to be a companion to the AMC series James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction.

"[The next three Star Wars films] were going to get into a microbiotic world," Lucas is quoted as saying. "But there's this world of creatures that operate differently than we do. I call them the Whills. And the Whills are the ones who actually control the universe. They feed off the Force."

As far as I've seen, these are the first specifics George Lucas has shared about what his vision of Episodes 7-9 would have been. This comes from @insighteditions awesome companion book to "James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction series" on AMC: pic.twitter.com/Wtlw8zlrqv — Livio Ramondelli (@LivioRamondelli) June 12, 2018

Hardcore Star Wars fans may be familiar with the director's concept of the Whills, immortal beings that were kind of an early version of the Force itself. Some people make a case for Yoda being a Whill, though the Star Wars Wikia reports Lucas has denied it. And in 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the character of Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen) once was a devoted Guardian of the Whills.

"A lot of fans would have hated" the Whills plotline, Lucas acknowledges in the book, according to CBR. "But at least the whole story from beginning to end would be told." (Lucas didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.)

This is far from the only change Lucas would've liked to make, had he held on to Lucasfilm. The company was acquired by Disney in 2012. (Spoilers ahead.)

Star Wars star Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, revealed to IGN in March that Lucas had a different plan for the Skywalker twins in Episode IX. The director wanted Luke to train sister Leia (the late Carrie Fisher) in the ways of the Jedi before Luke himself would be killed off.

Fans will get the chance to see the actual Episode IX in December 2019.

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