Why Mark Hamill Thought Luke’s Star Wars Return Was a Mistake (& Why He Did It Anyway)

As the first new Star Wars film in a decade, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was tasked with injecting fresh life and energy into the long-running franchise. It achieved that by introducing audiences to a new generation of heroes and villains, with Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron joining forces against Kylo Ren. But since The Force Awakens was also continuing the Skywalker Saga, it included notable legacy characters — including the dynamic original trilogy trio of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa. The returns of those icons was a significant part of the Force Awakens marketing campaign, but initially, Mark Hamill wasn’t sure if he wanted to come back.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hamill explained why he was hesitant to sign on for the sequel trilogy and shared what brought him back to the fold. “I thought it would be a mistake. You can’t catch lightning in a bottle twice — they should really focus on a new generation of characters,” he said. “And I thought, “Well, Harrison [Ford] is not going to do it anyway.” You could see his irritation with constantly having to talk about Han Solo. Once I saw in the press that he had accepted, I felt like I had been drafted — because if I’m the only one who says no, I’ll be the most hated man in nerd-dom.”

The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy’s Story Needed Luke Skywalker

To varying degrees of success, the Star Wars sequel trilogy attempted to blend the old with the new, continuing the arcs of original trilogy heroes while establishing the new characters to carry the franchise forward. Several years after the trilogy concluded with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it’s hard to picture the films without any of Luke, Han, and Leia, but Luke was arguably the most important legacy character to bring back. There needed to be someone to fill the Obi-Wan role as a mentor to the fresh faces — and while that task fell to Han in The Force Awakens, Rey still needed a teacher to help her understand the Force, and who better than Luke Skywalker?

The Skywalker Saga has always been a generational story, chronicling the family’s adventures throughout decades of galactic history. The Skywalkers were represented in the younger generation with Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren, but it would have been a missed opportunity of none of the original trio returned. Seeing Kylo’s interactions with his older relatives are some of the highlights of the sequels, and the lessons Luke, Han, and Leia bestowed upon the Resistance fighters informed their character arcs and helped them pave a way forward. In the case of Luke, his knowledge and understanding of the Force guided Rey on her path, giving her the tools and motivation needed to defeat Emperor Palpatine. Luke’s legacy will likely be felt when Rey returns in Star Wars: New Jedi Order.

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Hamill might have been reluctant to sign on for more Star Wars, but reprising Luke ended up being a boon for his acting career. While the handling of Luke’s arc in Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues to inspire passionate debates, Hamill’s portrayal of a grizzled, world-weary Jedi in that film was very compelling and demonstrated a different side of his range. The Long Walk director Francis Lawrence cited The Last Jedi as the reason why he cast Hamill as military figure The Major in the Stephen King adaptation. If Hamill followed his initial instinct and stayed away, he might not have had interesting projects like The Long Walk and The Life of Chuck come his way.

Luke was a necessary component for the sequel trilogy, providing a definitive ending to the character’s story. He was too important of a franchise figure to write out; it would have been extremely disappointing if Luke had died off screen and fans never got a chance to see his arc properly resolved. But now that the final chapter has been written, it seems like it’s safe for Star Wars to move on. Hamill himself told us he wouldn’t play Luke again in New Jedi Order, so after mixing the old with the new, it sounds like Lucasfilm is going to focus entirely on the younger characters.

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