Star Wars' Original Baby Yoda Was a Very, Very Different Character

Star Wars almost gave us “Baby Yoda” years before The Mandalorian, but it would have been done much differently.

Grogu, formerly Baby Yoda, is one of the boldest additions to the Star Wars canon in quite some time.

His inclusion in The Mandalorian brought appeal from not only fans of Star Wars but also viewers who don’t know their lightsabers from their light-speed cruisers.

Soon he’ll make his big-screen appearance in The Mandalorian And Grogu film, but in some ways the idea of a baby Yoda almost found its way into Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith.

Matthew Stover's novelisation of Revenge Of The Sith follows a slightly different storyline to that of the film, as it was written before the script was finalised.

This means there are certain ideas and concepts that were planned for the film but were scrapped or reworked for filming, but still found their way into the novel.

One such scene had Yoda pretend to be a baby Jedi following Order 66, in an attempt to sneak back into the Jedi Temple and stop Darth Sidious before his plan could go too far.

In the film Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are seen fighting their way into the temple as clones attempt to gun them down, but in the book’s version of events the pair try a stealthier approach.

Obi-Wan disguises himself as a hooded figure and claims to have found a survivor from the Jedi Temple, and when the clones approach to follow their orders the pair quickly dispatch them with lightsabers.

For whatever reason this scene wasn’t included in the film, and I’m actually glad it wasn’t. In my opinion Revenge Of The Sith has some really strong pacing and to dwell on scenes like this especially in the third act would have slowed things down a bit too much. Also it’s Obi-Wan and Yoda, they’re more than powerful enough to force their way into the temple without trickery.

I’d recommend checking out the novelisation if you haven’t already, and the video game adaptation of Revenge Of The Sith also includes some cut-content reworked into various levels and boss fights.

Grogu’s story still isn’t finished, and we’re looking forward to seeing what’s next for the character when The Mandalorian And Grogu comes out next year.