Interstellar Inspiration: From Starkiller to Skywalker

Following are some concept sketches of Luke Skywalker's character as he (and in early stages "she") progressed through script stages. Die-hard fans will recognize these (just a selection of what's out there really) but I've always been intrigued by how the character's evolution paralleled the changes in the screenplay.

Originally, Luke's surname was Starkiller, and he was in his mid-to-early 60s, more of a Ben Kenobi type. Luke's character was rewritten, in some versions, as a female lead. (The male character pictured is actually Han Solo).

By the time filming comensed on the original film, the name was revised to "Skywalker" to appease studio heads who felt uncomfortable with the "Killer" moniker...or so the story goes. ;)

After finding these, I was intrigued that the last sketch pictured here and one of the first shots of Hamill dressed in blue. The costume is certainly cool and "appropriate" to an adventure story, but in the context of the story it was out of place. Probably could have worked for Empire though.