Star Wars fans have been pouring over the concept art of the space fantasy saga for over 40 years, analyzing each painting and sketch for hidden details into the development of one of the most visually iconic films of all time. Aside from the original film, the incredible concept art of Return of the Jedi might be of the most interest to fans.

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Significant visual elements that would later inform the prequels - and probably not intentionally, but the sequels - emerge in the early design phase of Return of the Jedi, as well as those Ewok made-for-TV movies no one really talks about anymore. Here are ten pieces of Return of the Jedi concept art you need to see.

10 Not One, But Two Death Stars

Early in the conceptual phase of Return of the Jedi, George Lucas imagined that the Empire would up the stakes against the Rebels with two brand-new Death Stars. Both of these would be constructed in orbit of a planet called Had Abadon - more on that a bit later - and would be a bit smaller than the original.

Eventually, he settled on the idea of having just one Death Star, though having a ton of planet-killer super weapons would eventually be a thing in Star Wars anyways.

9 Death In Progress

Once the concept of a single new Death Star solidified, Lucas turned his attention toward how to differentiate it from the original. He liked the idea that it was still under construction, which made sense, but created a question that fans debated for years: how long did it take to build these things?

Revenge of the Sith offered an answer when it showed the skeletal keel of the first Death Star in progress, but that was 18 years before Star Wars, and it only took the Empire three years to build the second one ... so they must have cut some corners.

8 Walking The Plank

Jabba's Sail Barge is massive in the film, and the set-piece where the heroes are forced to walk the plank above the Sarlacc Pit is as well, but it's even bigger in this painting by Ralph McQuarrie.

By the time Lucasfilm got around to Return of the Jedi, the success of the film was assured. That took some of the pressure off the budget and allowed the concept designers to dream big. Here, the Sail Barge appears to envelop the tiny skiff, which appears very close to its final film version.

7 Bombing Run

This highly energetic painting imagines a squadron of B-Wing fighters, new for the film, on a bombing run against an Imperial Star Destroyer. Though this particular scene never appeared in the film, it was recreated for a piece of promotional photography that was widely used.

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The B-Wing fighters continue the Rebel tradition of basing their designs on alphabetical designations. This is not super obvious in this piece of art, but the final version would alter the ship to make it longer and more 'b' like.

6 Village Troll

This great painting asks a huge 'what if?' - what if a giant green troll monster attacked the Ewok village on Endor? This never happened in Return of the Jedi of course, but the concept of green troll-ish creatures making life hard on little teddy bears later manifested in two different spin-offs featuring the lovable Ewoks.

The Ewoks animated series introduced the villainous Duloks in 1985, and the reptilian Mauraders of the Battle for Endor made-for-TV special, also in 1985.

5 Prequel Anticipation

George Lucas initially imagined seeing the Imperial throneworld in Return of the Jedi. Early drafts called it Had Abadon, and the concept designs went in a few different directions.

One was a planetary cityscape, gloriously rendered by Ralph McQuarrie in this dynamic piece. This art would later inform the design of Coruscant, the seat of the Republic, which appeared in all three of the prequels. This particular scene later was used for an episode of the animated Clone Wars series.

4 Creature Feature

George Lucas was frustrated with the lack of time and money he had to develop creatures for the first Star Wars film, but with Return of the Jedi, that wasn't an issue.

Concept designers, including Nilo Rodis-Jamero, did quick sketches of tons of different possible aliens to fill out Jabba's palace, and three that ended up in the final film are visible in this piece. From left to right, the aliens - and action figures - are Yak Face, Tanus Spiejk, and Ishi Tib.

3 The Big Bad

George Lucas had filmed a scene with Jabba the Hutt for the original Star Wars film. Ultimately, he wasn't happy with how the scene turned out and didn't have the budget to do what he really wanted.

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For the character's appearance in Return of the Jedi, concept designers took Lucas' directive of the Hutt being big and ugly and ran with it. This McQuarrie sketch imagines Jabba the Hutt as more worm-like - and upright - than he eventually turned out to be in the film.

2 Lightning Storm

This dynamic Ralph McQuarrie painting imagines the climactic scene between Luke Skywalker and Emperor Palpatine aboard the Death Star II. It's very close to how the film turned out, though Palpatine - Darth Sidious to his friends - is a bit more wraith-like.

Force lightning would ultimately become a major component of the entire Star Wars saga, proving critical to the final battles between Sidious in all three trilogies, including what one assumes is his ultimate defeat in The Rise of Skywalker.

1 Descent Into Hell

For Return of the Jedi, Ralph McQuarrie painted what would ultimately become Coruscant in The Phantom Menace. He also painted what would ultimately become the hellish lava world of Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith.

One concept for Had Abadon imagined the Emperor's throne room within a magma chamber beneath the surface of the planet. The descent into Hell was a major theme George Lucas ultimately saved for the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

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