You see, George Lucas also wanted the new protagonist to be a female Jedi who would get trained by Luke Skywalker, and he even wanted the Jedi Master to die in Episode VIII, which is exactly what happened under Disney’s direction. Of course, the Sequel Trilogy discarded some of Lucas’ ideas, which would have included an extended focus on midi-chlorians (no, really). However, the main thing that changed about the Rey and Luke relationship was that the Star Wars creator wanted her to have a journey to find the Jedi Master that was reminiscent of Apocalypse Now.
For better or for worse, The Force Awakens ends with Rey finding Luke Skywalker, and their training (or lack thereof) begins almost right away in The Last Jedi. However, Lucas originally wanted Luke to be a character similar to Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. If you’ve never seen the film (honestly, you should stop what you’re doing and go check out this masterpiece right now), the plot revolves around an Army colonel who goes rogue during the Vietnam War, and the young captain who is sent to find and kill him.Â
