JJ Abrams confirms he cut a Vader vs Skywalker duel in 'The Force Awakens'



Rumors have always persisted about a Vader vs. Skywalker scene that never made the final cut. It was supposed to occur after Rey touches the Lightsaber for the first time. Then, told through flashback obviously, we'd get a short history of the famous Jedi weapon. In fact Abrams wanted to recreate the sequence from different angles that he actually hired actors in the roles of Vader and Skywalker

Courtesy of "The Star Wars Show":

"Touching the lightsaber triggers what we call the ‘Forceback.’ There were many iterations of this. In one, from the Cloud City Corridor, she looked down and saw Vader fighting Luke, which we ended up cutting. We wanted it to be a more personal story, something that she couldn’t comprehend, that was overwhelming to her, frightening to her, that was taking her through all of these elemental experiences, of fire, of rain, snow, wind. But also that she was being confronted with truths about the Force, about the past. The Knights of Ren here, the past for herself. She realizes that the cries she heard were actually her own cries as a young girl being taken away from her family. And then she hears a voice, ‘Rey,’ and that’s Obi-Wan Kenobi."