Disney Plus: Star Wars' "Han Shoots First" Scene Changed A Third Time, And Here's One Possible Reason Why

Of all the many changes that George Lucas made to the original Star Wars trilogy over the course of its various reissues and rereleases (starting with the 1997 Special Edition release) , there are none as controversial as Greedo shooting first in his confrontation with Han Solo in the original 1977 film A New Hope. The film is one of many Star Wars movies now available in 4K on Disney+, and the scene has been changed yet again--and following some confusion, an explanation for this change (and the word "maclunkey") has potentially emerged.

The moment comes towards the end of the iconic Mos Eisley Cantina sequence, when Greedo confronts Han about the money owed to Jabba the Hutt. In the original version, Han abruptly ends the discussion by shooting Greedo dead, before swaggering out of the bar. But when the movie was re-released as the Special Edition with various digital alterations in 1997, it was changed so that Greedo fires first and (somehow) misses, before Han shoots him, changing Han's motivation from murder to self-defence. The scene was changed yet again for the 2011 Blu-ray release, when the gap between the two shots was reduced to make them almost simultaneous.

With the movie now on Disney+, it hasn't taken fans long to notice that the scene has changed yet again. The time between blaster shots has been tightened even further, and before that, there's a newly inserted edit of Greedo saying something without subtitles (that appears to sound like "maclunkey"). It was first spotted by the Twitter account Star Wars Visual Comparisons, who captured it below:

Disney has reportedly confirmed that the change was made at the behest of George Lucas, with an agreement being made before Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise.

As for the purpose of the change, CNET's Sean Buckley has done some sleuthing and determined the word or words Greedo says aren't entirely new to Star Wars. Sebulba appears to say it in Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, using it as a threat. Buckley suggests the addition of the line is meant to justify Han's actions, showing that he was acting in self-defence.

If you want to check out the previous versions of this scene, the original is here, while the Special Edition version can be watched here.

Fans can find a wealth of Star Wars content on Disney+--check out GameSpot's guide to everything available to watch right now. One of the biggest releases is The Mandalorian, the first-ever live-action Star Wars TV show. The first episode is available now, and you can read GameSpot's review here.

However, it's possible you might be having trouble watching any content on Disney+. There are day one issues across the many devices that it can be watched on, with various reports of playback and loading problems.