Mark Hamill and Rian Johnson Address Their 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Disagreement

The events in Star Wars: The Last Jedi has proven divisive among fans, and Mark Hamill infamously stated that he "fundamentally disagreed" with what happened to Luke Skywalker in the film.

Though he's since walked back those comments, it's clear that Hamill and writer/director Rian Johnson had many discussions about how Luke's journey would proceed. Now the two finally discussed their approach to the film, shedding light on those initial disagreements during a BAFTA Q&A session.

"I was amazed at the complexity of it, that it was so challenging, the range of emotions, every color in the pallet," said Hamill. "Mine happened to be of a darker hue."

"That was part of the challenge with the character of Luke," added Johnson, "It felt like I couldn't have him on the island because he's a coward or he's giving up. He had to have an active reason he was there. His reason is, he genuinely believes the Jedi are a hindrance to the galaxy. And so he actually turns it into this kind of heroic act he's taken on his shoulders of, he knows his friends are suffering and he's making the choice to do the most painful, difficult thing for him, which is take himself out of the fight."

"Well, you have to trust someone," Hamill said. "As long as I was able to express my reservations about Luke — because you can't help but feel some measure of ownership like 'Luke wouldn't say that,' or 'Luke wouldn't do this,' — but once we had that conversation, my job was to wipe out what Mark Hamill wants and do my best to realize Rian's vision.

"And I thought I'm going to turn over everything. I usually have an [interal] mechanism that says 'this feels right,' 'this doesn't feel right.' All throughout the process… he'd say, 'we got it.' I'd say 'shouldn't we do one more?' and he'd say 'no, we got it.' I said, well, Rian, if you're happy, I'm happy."

Hamill and Johnson were jovial about the experience, with the actor pinning his accomplishments to the director's success.

"He was my seeing-eye dog, so if I've succeeded in any way, it's all because of Rian. And also if I fail, it's also because of Rian," Hamill said, prompting laughs from the panel. "See, a Jedi never takes responsibility."

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now playing in theaters.