“You know what would be a cool Easter egg for the fans? The new Death Star that’s 100 times as large…? We’ll call it Starkiller base. Cause you know Skywalker’s original name was Starkiller.”
Hurr-durr-durrr.
Star Wars in name only.
Didn’t the name come from the extended universe stuff?
Maybe… but Skywalker was definitely originally called Starkiller back in the 70s before Lucas changed it to a more positive sounding name. It was in one of the original scripts.
EDIT, from Wiki:
George Lucas considered various characterizations for the protagonist of the original Star Wars film.[s] The possibilities included a 60-year-old grizzled war hero, a Jedi Master, a dwarf, and a woman.[5][6] Luke’s original surname was “Starkiller”, and it remained in the script until a few months into filming. It was dropped due to what Lucas called “unpleasant connotations” with Charles Manson, who became a “star killer” in 1969 when he murdered the well-known actress Sharon Tate.[7][8] Lucas replaced the problematic name “Starkiller” with “Skywalker”.[9]
Maybe its because they suck
But people will call you starkiller for clever use of nuclear weapons against the Minbari