Star Wars: How Mark Hamill Would Have Changed Han Solo’s Death In The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens featured the tragic death of Han Solo at the hands of his own son in one of the most emotionally devastating scenes in the entire Star Wars saga. Mark Hamill thinks maybe he could have done better.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought the Star Wars film franchise back to life in 2015. The film featured both a cast of new heroes and the stars of the original trilogy – Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Harrison Ford as Han Solo. The film also featured the first death of one of the original trilogy’s core protagonists when Han Solo was killed by his own son Ben, now the dark side Force wielder Kylo Ren, in front of Chewbacca, Rey, and Finn. While the scene was powerfully emotional, Hamill believed at the time that he had a better idea for how Han’s final moments should have gone down.

“Now, remember, one of the plots in the earlier films was the telepathic communication between my sister and me,” Hamill tells Vanity Fair. “So I thought, Carrie will sense that Han is in danger and try to contact me. And she won’t succeed, and, in frustration, she’ll go herself. Then we’re in the situation where all three of us are together, which is one of my favorite things in the original film, when we were on the Death Star. It’s just got a fun dynamic to it. So I thought it would have been more effective, and I still feel this way, though it’s just my opinion, that Leia would make it as far as she can, and, right when she is apprehended, maybe even facing death—Ba-boom! I come in and blow the guy away and the two of us go to where Han is facing off with his son, but we’re too late. The reason that’s important is that we witness his death, which carries enormous personal resonance into the next picture. As it is, Chewie’s there, and how much can you get out of [passable Chewbacca wail] ‘Nyaaarghhh!’ and two people who have known Han for, what, 20 minutes?”

In retrospect, Hamill admits that the scene worked pretty well as written.

“As I said to J.J.,” Hamill recalled, “I’ve never been more happy to be wrong.”

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the second film in the new Star Wars sequel trilogy that began with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. The film will deal with Luke training Rey to become a, and possibly the last, Jedi. Meanwhile, the Resistance, including Poe Dameron and First Order defector Finn, continues to fight against the First Order, led by General Hux, while Supreme Leader Snoke and his Dark Side follower Kylo Ren continue their mysterious plot.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is written and directed by Rian Johnson and stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Andy Serkis, Benicio Del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters Dec. 15, 2017

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