Greedo actor comments on the latest change to the famous Star Wars scene

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

George Lucas has been tinkering with STAR WARS for years, but no scene has provoked the outrage of fans quite like the one between Han Solo and Greedo in the original film. Back in 1977, it was Han Solo who shot first, taking out Greedo before the bounty hunter could get a shot off, but when Lucas released the Special Editions in 1997, the scene was changed so that it was Greedo who shot first, with Han only shooting after awkwardly dodging the blaster bolt. Subsequent releases saw more changes to the scene, but when Lucas sold the company to Disney, fans believed that they would be spared any further changes. Enter Maclunkey.

As we know, the STAR WARS films are now available on the Disney+ streaming service and fans were baffled to discover yet another addition to the Han Solo/Greedo scene. Right before taking his shot at Solo, Greedo utters something which sounds like "Maclunkey" before meeting his demise. George Lucas reportedly made the change seven years ago before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney, but it still came as a surprise to many, including Paul Blake, the actor who played Greedo all those years ago. While speaking with Empire, Blake expressed his confusion with the continually changing scene.

I couldn't understand a word of it. (laughs) It confused me incredibly, but I've never understood anything about the movies anyway, particularly that. The convention I've just come back from, I had a million opinions from everybody. This new word!

Blake joked that Greedo is "talking about his Scottish grandmother there. Greedo had a Scottish grandmother and an Irish grandfather, and a Rodian step-mother. That's why he shouted 'Maclunkey' just before he died. He's about to meet his grandfather. How absolutely absurd, what is George [Lucas] doing these days?" Blake added that he doesn't believe the "Maclunkey" line was in the original script, before revealing just who it was who told him about the latest change. "Mike Carter, who plays Bib Fortuna, the guy in Jabba's palace with the strange long ears, he texted me and said, 'MACLUNKEY!' I said, 'What the fuck are you talking about?'" Blake explained. "He said, 'New discovery! It could be as important as Howard Carter and the Tutankhamun tomb.' I didn't know what he was talking about for 10 minutes, until I had a look at the scene and thought, 'Oh right, yeah.' Disney or Lucasfilm, they're the last people that ever inform us of anything really – unless it's the lawyers, then we hear from them pretty quick."

While I'm sure that everyone will keep referring to Greedo's new line as "Maclunkey," writer Donna Dickens did a little research and believes that Greedo is actually saying "ma klounkee," which is Huttese for "this will be the end of you," or something along those lines. Selbulba uttered the same phrase while speaking with Anakin Skywalker in THE PHANTOM MENACE.