Popular culture’s iconic villain, Darth Vader has, and continues to score of his aura the universe of science fiction and in particular the Star Wars franchise. From the 1st episode released in 1977 to the series Obi-Wan Kenobi who will come out on Disney+ this May, the famous helmet adorned with a breathing tube continues to do its thing in the galaxy far, far away… But originally, the Sith lord was not supposed to look like this. It is so thanks in the shadow work of a draftsman that we owe this iconic skin.
McQuarrie’s imprint on the trilogy
major work of science fiction, Star Wars is one of the indelible symbols of pop-culture, through its 9 films spread over 5 decades, of these variations in series, video games, books or even the goodies that have resulted from them. It all started with Star Wars: A New Hope by Georges Lucas released in 1977, (and later became star wars episode iv) which expanded the frontiers of science fiction and left its mark on the history of cinema. A monument of which all the merits have been attributed to its director. However, in the shadow of the father of the most famous Space Opera hides many people who worked for the success of the film.
One of them is called Ralph McQuarrie, concept artist responsible for creating the visual universe of the film. Died on March 3, 2012 at the age of 83, McQuarrie began working in industrial illustration for Boeing in the 1960s, and found himself creating a cartoon for the Apollo space program. He was hired by Lucas in 1974, three before the film’s release, and took charge of iimagine the designs of the future characters of the film, but also the sets, and to illustrate the script of several sceneslike that of the arrival of the droids R2-D2 and C3-PO on Tatooine for example.
“He came to my house with his friends and talked about a great space fantasy movie he wanted to do. It didn’t have a title yet. I showed him a proposal I had been working on in 1972 for a science fiction movie called ‘Galaxy’… I didn’t expect to see him again, and then one day he called me to ask if I would be interested in a project for ‘Star Wars’he confided in the Star Wars Insider magazine (issue 76).
The Man in Vader’s Shadow
It is to him that we owe chara-design of the famous Wookie Chewbacca, but also, and above all, that of Dark Vador. It was indeed McQuarrie who created his famous full-face helmet and breathing tubes. Originally the set was only designed to be worn while piloting the Executor, but the design appealed to Lucas so much that he decided to keep it permanently.
Originally, Lucas imagined the big bad in a silk cape with a mask that must have been inspired by Samurai warriors. But the illustrator pointed out to Georges Lucas that this would represent an inconsistency in the script.
George said he wanted a suit that flew in the wind, it would have been some sort of dark guy in a black cape with a big helmet, like a Japanese warrior. But the script called for Vader to navigate between his starship and the Rebel ship from space, smash his way through a wall by disintegrating it with his saber. I figured Darth Vader had to go through a bit of a vacuum, so I suggested to George that he should wear some sort of spacesuit to help him survive. George replied, ‘Okay, draw him some sort of breathing apparatus.’ So, in addition to the large helmet, I drew this mask for him.
A book in his effigy
The one who greatly participated in bringing the sith lord in the Pantheon of the most emblematic characters of the 7th art was the subject of a book released in 2016 and entitled Star Wars Art: Ralph McQuarrie, a behemoth of 800 pages and more than 2000 illustrations. Co-authored by David Mandel, Brandon Alinger and Wade Lageose, the book in question includes all of Ralph McQuarrie’s work on licensing. There is thus a multitude of sketches, concept arts, or even storyboards. We also learn that the planet Kashyyyk was first designed for The Empire Strikes Back before being put under cover.
On our side, in 2017, we presented to you in our columns some concept art by Ralph McQuarrie for the film, some of which were shelved. The opportunity to see that Luke was a woman, that Han Solo had green skin or that Princess Leia was not part of the story.
Note that we will obviously find Darth Vader facing Obi-Wan Kenobi in the eponymous series which will be released on Disney+ on May 27.