Disney+ Has Once Again Altered Han And Greedo’s Iconic Cantina Exchange

The infamous “Star Wars” debate over who shot first has regained momentum with the adoption of Disney+. The streaming site, like Lucas before it, has made its own stamp on the “Star Wars” legacy with only a slight change to the renowned scene in question. Thanks to Collider and some extremely avid fans, the scene in question has sparked more controversy over the already long-debated exchange between Han Solo and Greedo in "Star Wars: A New Hope."

It’s a longstanding question raised for ages amongst fans: Who shot first? Though it may sound simple, it has been an ongoing debacle for quite some time. Now, Disney has resurrected it with fervor by merely altering Greedo’s last and dying word to “Maclunkey.”

The debate dates back to the very beginning of the original trilogy itself and has since seemingly defined the character of Solo. In 1977’s “A New Hope,” Han (Harrison Ford) is confronted by a bounty hunter by the name of Greedo (Paul Blake) in the Mos Eisely Cantina. With his blaster waiting at the ready, Greedo asks Han for Jabba’s long-awaited credits, yet Han (always the wiser) simply shoots the bounty hunter dead in the booth.

Coined “Han shot first,” the subtle scene compounded into an iconic moment not merely in “Star Wars,” but in science fiction filmography itself. This was due to edits made by George Lucas two decades later upon the movie’s special edition release. Lucas changed the scene in 2004 so that Greedo shoots first, thereby allowing Han some justification for his kill.

Fans have long fought back against this alteration, claiming it lessens Han’s character, whereas Lucas merely wanted to bolster his space cowboy for all audiences. Lucas even clarified the change in a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying:

The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in 'Episode IV,' what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn't. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down.

The infamous debacle is even referenced in 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” wherein Han shoots Tobias Beckett without even a second’s hesitation. It’s clear the scene, though small in comparison to the wider story of "Star Wars," is held close to the heart of many the franchise's fanatics. Now Disney+ has found the perfect way to itch that very debacle while giving it their own personal touch.