"Every Generation Has A Legend. Every Journey Has A First Step. Every Saga Has A Beginning." That was the famous tagline that appeared in the first teaser for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. That tagline kick-started the hype train that drew hoards of fans into theaters in 1999. For better or worse, feelings about this movie still remain strong even after nearly 20 years. [Insert Jar Jar joke# 51419441138.]

I won't elaborate on the mixed reactions or dwell on the negativity that followed the release of The Phantom Menace. We've all had about enough of that. Instead, we will be discussing some interesting alternative paths that Phantom Menace could have taken. What follows are 15 surprising ways that Episode I was almost a very different movie.

15 At First, The Movie Wasn't Called 'The Phantom Menace'

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We've all gotten so used to the title, Phantom Menace that it's hard to imagine it ever being called anything else. Much like all the other movies in the Star Wars Saga, the subtitles really stick after a while. Last Jedi isn't even in theaters yet and people are already used to calling the movie by that title. Anyway, according to a rough draft via a 1999 CD-ROM called The Episode I Insiders (via The Secret History of Star Wars), The Phantom Menace working title was originally called The Beginning.

To be fair, The Phantom Menace title did sound weird at first because fans had no clue what the hell it meant. However, time seems to have been kind as far as that title goes. The Beginning, however, feels somewhat vague for a Star Wars movie title. Not to mention the fact that Phantom Menace works very well as yet another homage to Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers movie serials.

14 The Original Crawl Was Different (And Arguably Better)

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It goes without saying that many key elements in the rough draft of Episode I were different from the final script. As such, the original opening crawl was reflective of these differences. The original text in the early draft read as follows:

"It is a time of decay in the Republic. The taxation of trade routes to the tiny planet of Utapau is in dispute. Hoping to force a resolution with a blockade of deadly Star Destroyers, the greedy Federation of Galactic Traders has cut off all shipping and supplies to the small, peaceful planet. While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates the alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched a young Jedi Knight to settle the conflict...."

The young Jedi mentioned was to be Obi-Wan Kenobi, in a solo mission which we'll get to shortly. Also of note was that Naboo was called 'Utapau' early on. Later the name 'Utapau' was recycled and used for a completely different planet in Revenge of the Sith. George Lucas has always been upfront about not tossing out ideas and concepts, which also includes names. That said, the opening line in the original crawl sounds far more appropriate than "Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic." The feeling of turmoil wasn't exactly the vibe that came across in the actual movie. "A time of decay," however, would have been way more fitting as Palpatine's sinister plans were just underway. He hadn't yet thrown the galaxy into total chaos.

13 Padmé & Obi-Wan Almost Had A Thing Together

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One of the many prequel related rumors fans have speculated about online is the possibility that Obi-Wan and Padmé had a secret affair. The problem is, there's really nothing in any of the prequels that indicates they were anything more than friends. But fan-fiction aside, an Obi-Wan and Padmé hookup isn't something that was totally off the table. According to the revised rough draft, George Lucas did initially hint at some sparks between the two. In fact, check out this quote from The Secret History of Star Wars: "As they enter Mos Espa, she (Padmé) gives Obi-Wan a long, adoring look... In Mos Espa, Padmé watches Kenobi with interest and respect, making Kenobi very nervous."

Clearly Padmé had a crush on Obi-Wan in the rough draft of Phantom Menace. Naturally, Obi-Wan, the stoic Jedi wasn't sure how to handle the advances of a young woman. The attraction would have made sense as Obi-Wan and Padmé were also closer in age in the early draft. As the prequels progressed, Padmé eventually ended up with Anakin (bad choice). Was Lucas possibly planting seeds for an eventual love triangle between Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan? If so, could that have been one factor which would've contributed to Anakin and Obi-Wan's falling out? A very interesting dramatic possibility...ah well.

12 An Evil Witch Was Going To Seduce Young Anakin

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The further back in time we go, the fuzzier Lucas' ideas about the prequels become. Case in point, one of the earliest known casting rumors for the first of three Star Wars prequels, was spotted in a 1985 Starblazer magazine. So we're talking just a few years after Return of the Jedi, which is fascinating to consider.

In their Summer issue, it was hinted that B-movie actress, Sybil Danning was rumored to play an evil/sexy witch in a vastly different version of the prequel era. The movie would have seen an older Anakin being seduced to the dark-side by lust, dark magic, and giant '80s hair. Back in 2012, Sybil did confirm on her Facebook page that the rumor was true. So basically Phantom Menace at one point could've featured a seductive witch story-line instead of a pod-racing child yelling "Yipee!" Let that idea stew around in your brain for a minute.

11 Obi-Wan Was Going To Be The Hero Of The Movie

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As I mentioned earlier, the original opening crawl eluded to Obi-Wan Kenobi being sent on a solo mission to help settle the trade dispute. In the actual movie, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan were both sent on the mission and for the most part Qui-Gon was the central protagonist of the movie. Obi-Wan was present throughout, however, he was merely a young Jedi in training. Qui-Gon overshadowed Obi-Wan big-time, but that wasn't always going to be the case.

Originally, Qui-Gon's mentor role was going to be much smaller, he was to be closer in age to Obi-Wan and he came into the movie much later. As development progressed, George Lucas decided to swap out much of what was planned for Obi-Wan and instead gave it all to Qui-Gon Jinn. Now, clearly Liam Neeson who played Qui-Gon is all kinds of awesome. However, Phantom Menace undoubtedly would have been drastically different had Obi-Wan been the lead.

10 Jar Jar Could've Been Less Goofy...Yet Played By Michael Jackson

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I have to give myself a pat on the back for going this long without discussing Jar Jar in a disparaging way. (Repeat: don't dwell on the negative, don't dwell on the negative...) Anyway, here's an interesting Phantom Menace fact that hit the Internet a few years back. Legendary pop star Michael Jackson had his eyes on the Jar Jar role. In an interview with Vice, Jar Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best described the situation. "...Michael wanted to do the part, but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like Thriller. George wanted to do it in CGI. My guess is ultimately Michael Jackson would have been bigger than the movie, and I don't think he wanted that."

Clearly Michael Jackson playing Jar Jar would've changed Phantom Menace in many ways. Different actor, really different voice, altered tone, and most notably the use of a costume as opposed to CGI motion capture. One further interesting side-note is that in the rough draft, Jar Jar was less non-stop goofball and a bit more grounded. He even spoke normally as opposed to the bizarre 'issa meesa oossa youssa' language that drove fans nuts. Furthermore, Jar Jar was a true hero during the final battle. Instead of bumbling his way through the conflict, he bravely led his troops without any silly comedic antics.

9 Or Jar Jar Could Have Been Even More Goofy

Via: io9.gizmodo.com

I realize it may sound odd to suggest Jar Jar could have somehow been even more comical than he was in the final movie. However, that actually could have been the case. It would seem that very early on, Lucas decided Jar Jar would be the comic-relief and that was that. As you can tell from the concept art pictured above, Lucas had some interesting ideas in mind for the screw-ball Gungan, aside from just general clumsiness and fart jokes.

According to Star Wars Storyboards, writer Iain McCaig, at one point, Jar Jar's bones were considered to be "elastic." I think you already know where this insane idea is going. Basically, depending on Jar Jar's environmental surroundings, he could change and morph his body like Mr. Fantastic. Hence the silly picture above of Jar Jar looking like he's impersonating a Hutt. '90s CGI could only accomplish so much. I'm glad they didn't push this concept that far at that time. It could have easily pushed the movie in an even more cartoon-like direction.

8 Darth Maul's Early Concepts Were All Over The Place

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Despite the fact that Darth Maul went on to become one of the most recognizable villains in Star Wars history (giving Vader and Palpatine some competition), almost everything about the character was different early on. And when I say 'different,' I'm not exaggerating. His look, his gender, his powers, even the actor who played him was all surprisingly fluid from day one.

For starters, George Lucas originally tasked concept designer, Iain McCaig, for the look of the villain, Darth Maul. Iain revealed that the Sith's appearance was quite difficult to nail down. As you can see, one of his attempts featured a nightmarish zombie with red ribbons covering his head. Later, McCaig tried placing unique patterns over people's faces and eventually that creative path led to the iconic design we know of today. Aside from design differences, early story boards reveled that Darth Maul even had the powers of astral projection—which of course is not something we ever saw in the final product.

As far as casting goes, prior to Ray Park nabbing the coveted part, Benicio Del Toro was reportedly set to play the role. Which could have been awesome, but we'll get to see him anyway in Last Jedi. Lastly, according to io9, "Lucas considered changing Darth Maul into a woman character. Apparently a photo of actress Maggie Cheung hung on the casting wall." In short, Darth Maul could have ended up being a mutant unicorn with three heads based on his varied early development.

7 Alternative Directors Were Considered

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Fans tend to bash George Lucas for supposedly being a control freak when it came to the prequels. However, he was apparently fine with turning over director duties for Phantom Menace. In fact, according to Den of Geek, Lucas actively sought out other directors for the monumental task.

In an interview for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, acclaimed director, Ron Howard revealed that Lucas asked him about taking on the job but his response was; “I don’t think anybody wanted to follow-up that act at the time. It was an honor, but it would’ve been too daunting.” You'll recall that even JJ Abrams was hesitant to take on The Force Awakens. Aside from Ron Howard, both Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis were also asked, but they respectfully declined. Considering the backlash Lucas received from critics and fans, it is safe to say that had Phantom Menace been directed by someone else, maybe the film would have been received better.

6 Mace Windu Was Not Always Bad-A** Samuel L. Jackson

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Darth Maul wasn't the only Phantom Menace character who was radically different during early production stages. Check out the very early concept art from Doug Chiang and you'll see Mace Windu was decidedly less 'bad mother fu**er' and more of a typical Star Wars background character. Apparently, Mace was originally intended to be an animatronic Jedi, which is pretty far from the version of Mace we all know of today.

Although Mace may not have had much of a part in Phantom Menace, this change still would have altered the film. However, it clearly would have hit the sequels even more so where Mace played a much larger part. Although the alien design is cool, I'll take Samuel L. Jackson any mother fu**ing day of the mother fu**ing week.

5 CGI Yoda Was Attempted For 'Phantom Menace'... Failed They Did

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One of the more nit-picky complaints about Phantom Menace was that the puppet Yoda looked like a meth addict. In fairness, perhaps the Phantom Menace puppet was rushed because according to IMDB, tests were conducted to see if Yoda could be created via CGI, but the results were lacking. I'm not clear how they could have been able to achieve a fully realized Jar Jar (which still mostly holds up) but were unable to handle a CGI Yoda?

Anyway, the original CGI model of Yoda in which they created was relegated to one long shot; during the closing scene when Obi-Wan and Yoda discussed Anakin's future with the Jedi Order. For the Phantom Menace 3D re-release and the 2011 Blu-rays, Lucas did swap out the puppet Yoda for a newer CGI version which was used for Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. So this is one case where we don't have to wonder about what could have been. We already know what Phantom Menace could have been like with a CGI Yoda, as they went back and replaced the rough looking puppet. Thank you, technology!

4 A Six-Hour Cut Of 'Phantom Menace'...WTF?

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A "mindbogglingly good" six hour cut of Phantom Menace exists...or so Jake Lloyd recalls. A few years back, the original actor who played the child version of Anakin Skywalker stated in an interview for Reddit that supervising sound editor, Matthew Wood was given a six hour long version of Phantom Menace back in the day and he loved it.

Feel free to check out the interview for yourselves as it is presently still on YouTube. To be clear, it doesn't seem like Jake was being sarcastic or joking. He actually seemed truthful in his claim. Fans have speculated about this bit of shocking information and have wondered, if indeed a longer cut exists, what else does it include? How much has Lucas (now Disney) held back on in terms of deleted material? Realistically speaking, if a longer cut was ever assembled, then a more reasonable run-time would be perhaps 3-4 hours at most. But even Lord of the Rings didn't tread into six hour territory. That's potentially a ton of additional pod-racing to deal with.

3 Qui-Gon Jinn's Character Went Through Serious Changes

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By the time Phantom Menace was further along in pre-production, concept art was being cranked out regularly from storyboard artists and conceptual designers. With that in mind, we'll refer once again to Star Wars Storyboards for a look at Qui-Gon Jinn's early interpretations. Pictured above is a much younger take on the character sporting a cool mohawk and looking very charismatic. This look is virtually nothing like the reserved, measured Jedi mentor we ended up with in the final version.

Age-wise I'm not sure if Liam Neeson could have pulled off this more youthful look, but acting-wise, I'm positive he could have. Another aspect of note is by this point, Qui-Gon's role was already expanding as the sketch above depicts both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan together on the mission that opens the story. Obviously the narrative was still somewhat fluid at this juncture.

2 Originally, Anakin Skywalker Wasn't Going To Be A Young Child

Via: io9.gizmodo.com

Prior to the release of Phantom Menace, many fans wondered just how young was Lucas going to go with Anakin's character? As well all know, ultimately he went with Jake Lloyd who was around 8 or 9 years old during filming. But it would seem in the early revised draft that both Anakin and Padmé were a little closer in age, and Anakin was slightly older—thus naturally cooler.

Pictured above is some concept art featuring teenage Anakin from Phantom Menace. Artist Iain McCaig noted that he modeled his version of Anakin after James Robinson, the younger version of William Wallace from Braveheart. Had they gone this route, we likely would have skipped the emo characterization of Anakin from Attack of the Clones and perhaps moved along quicker to the heroic version from Revenge of The Sith.

1 Concept Art And Drafts Reveal A More Mature Movie Overall

Via: io9.gizmodo.com

Early concept art - as well as rough drafts - clearly show that Episode I was going to be a much darker movie overall. I've already mentioned the idea of having Anakin be older, Jar Jar more tolerable, and even a possible seductive witch. But there's more to it than that. In the revised draft, both Padmé and Anakin work together in the climax and heroically destroy the droid-control-ship responsible for emitting the signals to the droid army. This is quite different from the final movie, where a child Anakin sneaks off into battle and comically saves the day.

Also of note, as pictured above, there is more focus on the actual destruction and aftermath of the invasion of Naboo. Jar Jar witnessing his home in ruins actually hammers home a sense of threat. There is even more racial tension between the Gungans and the Naboo present in the early script. Alas, Lucas decided to lighten the tone and slowly skew the prequel trilogy progressively darker. Thus, what could have been, will forever remain a mystery. Unless of course Disney reboots. In which case we're guaranteed to get an evil witch, because Disney is all about evil witches.

SOURCES: secrethistoryofstarwars.com, IMDB, filmsketchr.blogspot.com, io9.gizmodo.com, denofgeek.com, agentsofguard.com