Despite being killed off in controversial fashion in 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we’ve seen about as much Luke Skywalker post-Rian Johnson as we got in Episodes VII and VIII combined, what with Mark Hamill reprising the role for Luke’s Force Ghost cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as well as contributing to a few fan-pleasing appearances from Lucasfilm’s Return of the Jedi-era digital reconstruction in The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett.
With Dave Filoni set to bring the various ‘Mandoverse’ shows together for a crossover feature film (presumably pitting the New Republic against Grand Admiral Thrawn and his forces) as well as a new Daisy Ridley-led New Jedi Order flick on the horizon, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing plenty more of Luke in the coming years too. However, after expressing his belief last month that Lucasfilm needs an age-appropriate actor for any future appearances from a young Luke Skywalker, Hamill has now gone a step further and cast doubt on any further involvement with the saga.
“Well, you never say never, but I just don’t see any reason to,” said Hamill during an appearance on CBS News. “Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore. I had my time, and that’s good. But that’s enough.”
Given that the younger Luke Skywalker is already more machine-generated than man (complete with fully synthesized AI-generated voice), Hamill certainly doesn’t need to be involved on that front should Lucasfilm decide to continue utilising the character in the Mandoverse timeframe, although one has to imagine the “never say never” aspect might come into play should Rey come calling for some Force Ghost guidance…?
What are your thoughts on Luke Skywalker? Do you agree with Hamill that it’s time for Disney and Lucasfilm to focus elsewhere? Let us know on our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
