Eight years after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Mark Hamill still isn’t impressed by Luke Skywalker’s death. Rian Johnson’s Star Wars epic proved unexpectedly divisive, and Hamill himself expressed dissatisfaction on the press tour. He later publicly apologized for stoking the fires, noting that creative differences are a common part of any project but usually remain private. Still, it seems there’s one element Hamill is still less than impressed by, although he now seems to see the funny side of it all.
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Speaking on CBS This Morning (via Star Wars Holocron), Hamill quipped that he finds it “funny that people miss the irony that [Luke Skywalker] died from an overdose of the Force.” It’s a comment he’s made before, but he amplified it this time, calling out Obi-Wan and Yoda for not warning Luke.
“I mean, who knew that was even a thing? Don’t you think if there was even a marginal chance that using the Force could be lethal, Obi-Wan would’ve said ‘Use the Force in moderation, Luke?’ Or Yoda would’ve said ‘Overdo Force projection, you must not?’ Nobody warned me! But obviously, they concluded his story, he died.”
Overusing the Force Has Been a Thing in Star Wars for a Long Time
To be fair to Rian Johnson, the idea of overusing Force powers has been a thing for quite some time. It’s not uncommon to see Jedi straining to perform their Force feats, as though doing so is exerting some sort of physical pressure on their bodies. The general assumption has been that there’s a loose connection between midi-chlorian counts and the potential to demonstrate certain powers, and that there is some sort of cost to trying to do too much.
The old Star Wars Expanded Universe built on this idea, with authors Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole believing it was simply better for a Jedi to choose not to overuse the Force. As Luke Skywalker’s EU wife, Mara Jade, observed, it’s hard to hear the quiet guidance of the Force when you’re always shouting. The Jedi eventually abandoned this view, with Luke in particular tapping into some pretty formidable Force powers in Troy Denning’s “Dark Nest Trilogy.” But there was still a physical cost for this, with one scene where Luke’s body seemed to wither and age in a moment eerily reminiscent of Palpatine.
Given this is the case, Luke’s fate was a lot less concerning. He had prepared himself for death, and so effortlessly slipped into the Force itself, becoming a Force Ghost. Hamill may not have liked the reason Luke died, but the aged Jedi Master at least did so in a moment of peace, and his legacy remains because he can still offer guidance to the next generation.
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