References in Star Wars Culture
In July 2007, Lucas was observed wearing a T-shirt with the words "Han shot first" on the set of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and other events. In Aaron Allston's 2006 Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novel Betrayal, Leia says the line, "He's fine. Han shot first." Coincidentally, long before the Special Edition edit and the ensuing controversy, Han himself said "I happen to like to shoot first" in Brian Daley's 1979 novel Han Solo at Stars' End, finishing the statement with "As opposed to shooting second." In the MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, the end of the description for the "Smuggler" advanced class "Scoundrel" reads "The Scoundrel always shoots first" and "Shoot First" is a combat ability usable by the class. In the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Holden McNeil suggests that the idea for a movie based on the two lead characters is "the worst idea since Greedo shooting first". In the season 7 episode of How I Met Your Mother, "Trilogy Time", Barney whispers to Ted's baby daughter, whom Ted is holding, that Han shot first, after the episode depicted the characters watching the Star Wars original trilogy over a number of years. The Season 5 episode of "Castle" titled "The Final Frontier" features a character who makes toy laser guns and also wears a "Han shot first" T-shirt. The shirt seller is Scott Kurtz, author of the webcomic PvP. Purportedly, the product advertises the wearer's geek credentials and disagreement with Lucas' modification. In the PvP strip, Kurtz is shown wearing the T-shirt when he breaks the fourth wall. In the bunny reenactment on Angry Alien's website, an outtake shown at the end of the Macromedia Flash movie has Han shooting first. In the game Star Wars: Battlefront II it is possible, while playing as Solo, to hear the enemy troops exclaim, "It's Solo, and he's shooting first- that's not fair!" In a cutscene in LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, you see a LEGO version of Greedo slamming his fist on the table and Han shooting him, which blows Greedo into lego pieces, causing him to fall in a pile of limbs. At the end of the LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick mini-movie Greedo can be seen throwing darts in the cantina and despite standing no more than 2 feet away has missed the board with at least 5 darts, a possible tongue-in-cheek explanation for the unlikeliness of Greedo missing Han. After the assassination of Thrackan Sal-Solo in the novel Bloodlines, Boba Fett remarked that Han should learn to shoot first. In Revelation, Jaina tells Fett that if he plans on fighting Han Solo he should "remember to shoot first". Greedo appears as a minor character in the board game Star Wars: Epic Duels. His power attack is a card labeled "Desperate Shot": a decently powerful attack, but if it does not kill the target, then Greedo is immediately killed instead. It is the only card where an attacker's miss is automatically fatal. Wizards of the Coast released a scenario for the Star Wars Miniatures game featuring the cantina shootout between Solo and Greedo. It is referentially titled "Who Shoots First?". In Underworld: A Galaxy of Scum and Villainy (Star Wars Insider 89), an in-universe report states that Han "is prone to 'shooting first'." In the Star Wars Tales non-canon spoof The Emperor's Court, Han Solo is prosecuted in court by Greedo's mother Neela, who claims that her son was shot first. The case is declared in Neela's favor, and Han is sentenced to be frozen in Carbonite and sent to Jabba the Hutt. In LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga and LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy for Xbox 360, there is an Xbox Live achievement titled 'Shoot First'. In Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, in the Ord Mantell cutscene, there is a reference to Han shooting first. Col Serra says that although Han doesn't shoot first when it came to bounty hunters, the rest of the squadron does. It was referenced in LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out with C-3PO saying "Han shot first" with Han relaying "Why wouldn't I?". In the 2005 movie Serenity, the main character Malcolm Reynolds shoots no less than 3 unarmed people, one of whom was even surrendering to him. Director Joss Whedon stated in the audio commentary that it was in part "a reaction to the Greedo incident in the revised Star Wars". In the 2006 movie Clerks II, Jason Lee makes a reference to clerks Randal and Dante wasting their time "fighting over who shot first - Han or Greedo." Irregular Webcomics has an alternate explanation for the discrepancy between versions of Episode IV, and has touched on the issue at other times. The fourth season of the TV show House, M.D. opens with a young man trying to convince his girlfriend to go with him to a screening of the original theatrical version of A New Hope. To make it more appealing, he points out that it is the "pre-Lucasized version" and that there is "no Greedo shooting crap". In the RiffTrax for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones is set upon by beggars, causing Bill Corbett to riff "Oh, Great. Fanboys. Look, I told you, I don't give a damn who shot first!" In the RiffTrax for Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, when Han punches Lando, Kevin Murphy exclaims "Han punched first!" On the website "How It Should Have Ended.com" in a parody of The Empire Strikes Back an add-on at the end of the clip shows Han, Chewy, Lando, Leia, and Luke open a door where Darth Vader is standing on the other side. Han shoots Vader 3 times and Vader blocks them and then uses the force to grab Han's gun. Vader looking confused exclaims, "Hey! You, you shot..first." To which Han replies, "Yeah.. Why wouldn't I?" To which Vader finishes the scene with "I uh... I don't know the answer to that." In the TV show MythBusters, Grant and Tory, while making gunpowder for the "Bamboo Bazooka" myth, talk about Han shooting first or not, Tory said that Han did shoot first. In the Angry Video Game Nerd episode 94: Nintendo Days Revisited, the Angry Video Game Nerd makes a joke regarding this subject. The Pajamas Media show Afterburner with Bill Whittle had an episode that focused on this controversy called "Han Shot First," where Bill Whittle, the host, explained how negative the change was, and also used some of George Lucas' quotes on the matter to demonstrate as much as well as the current situation in Hollywood. On a related note, Whittle in the same episode also referenced George Lucas' admission that he based the Ewoks on the Viet Cong, and pointed out the implication that the Galactic Empire was based on America.
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