What The Wampa From Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Looked Like In Real Life

Most fans of "Star Wars" are quite familiar with, say, Chewbacca's (Peter Mayhew and Joonas Sartamo) entire backstory, along with what the actors playing the Wookiee protagonist look like behind the furry face. However, even in the much-analyzed original trilogy, there are some characters that are simply so outlandish, it's easy to assume they're intricate special effects with no actual actors involved in bringing them to life. 

Take the Wampa, a massive ice beast from the planet Hoth that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has a near-fatal interaction with at the beginning of "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back." The hulking alien carnivore looks like a puppet or special effects creation similar to how the twisted character of Jabba the Hutt was developed. Despite this, the Wampa was actually portrayed by a man called Des Webb, and seeing him partially out of costume is a visual for the ages.  

Des Webb cools off while filming #TheEmpireStrikesBack. The Wampa suit was so hot, he suffered heat stroke! pic.twitter.com/dkWbRZ7aKx

— Star Wars (@starwars) June 5, 2016

As the above post from the official "Star Wars" X, formerly known as Twitter, account confirms, the fearsome Wampa indeed belongs in the "guy in a costume" school of "Star Wars" creature design. Uncanny as it may seem, Webb wore the iconic snow beast's gigantic, heat stroke-inducing fur suit ... but the story of the Wampa is actually more complicated than that. 

Des Webb has virtually no other movie experience besides "The Empire Strikes Back" and his big Wampa role. His two other screen credits include a one-episode stint in the Rowan Atkinson comedy series "Blackadder" in 1983, and a small role in the 1985 comedy "Morons from Outer Space." When you combine this with the rumor that Mark Hamill's real-life car accident led to the Wampa attack being added in the movie to explain his facial scars and changes, it's easy to imagine that the scene was a last-minute change to injure Luke in a way that addresses the main character's changed visage. 

However, while the production was happy to use Hamill's real-life scars to accentuate the violence Luke Skywalker endured at the clawed hands of the beast, the makers of "The Empire Strikes Back" actually had a bigger vision for the Wampa. Unfortunately, stilts and snow foiled their Wampa plans. Webb's costume was not only large, but he had to wear stilt feet to reach the Wampa's imposing height. This made it impossible for him to drag Skywalker through the thick snow, and special effects artist Howie Weed encountered the same problem when he gave the Wampa costume a whirl in the special edition. As such, fearsome though it was, the Wampa had its share of behind-the-scenes mobility issues, which in turn limited the creature's screen time.