Star Wars: Mark Hamill Claims He Pitched a Different Role for Luke in ‘The Force Awakens’

Following the announcement that Disney would be moving forward with a Star Wars sequel trilogy set after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, fans were thrilled at the possibility of seeing Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo on the big screen again. Making us even more excited was the confirmation that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford had all agreed to join the film, despite not knowing what adventures awaited us. Some fans were disappointed that this trio never appeared together on screen, with Luke only appearing in the film’s final shot. Hamill himself was disappointed by this reveal, though he had his own ideas for Star Wars: The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams on how Luke could have returned to the saga.

“Everyone talks about the shock of realizing that, on Force Awakens, I don’t come in until the last page, a bigger shock to me was them killing Han Solo before Luke could ever see his best friend again,” Hamill shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “I mean, it might be selfishly motivated, but I said, ‘Holy cow, that’s a real missed opportunity.’ Even having the three of us together, even briefly. I pitched Abrams on the idea of, ‘You can still have me come in at the very end, but how about this. How about Leia’s trying to contact me telepathically, she gets frustrated because there’s no answers, so she rushes to the new Death Star’–that’s three, so far.”

He continued, “‘And she almost gets there but she gets stopped by two Stormtroopers and, just before she’s abducted, one Stormtrooper turns to the other one, blows him away, pulls off his helmet and says “Hi, sis, I’m here to rescue you.”‘ I say, ‘It’ll blow the roof off the joint, I’m still in it at the very end.’”

Given Hamill’s legacy with the series, his ideas for the franchise are valid, though were Luke to have seemingly appeared out of nowhere after being absent for the entire movie, only to recreate a scene from the original Star Wars, it’s possible that fans might not have enjoyed rehashing the exchange quite as much as the actor believes they would have. Regardless, Hamill did note that having Leia and Luke witness Han’s death could have made his murder more effective.

“I think it’s more effective to have people that really have a history with Han Solo witness his death and be unable to stop it,” the actor claimed. “His wife, the mother of his child, his best friend, instead of two characters that have known him, what, 20 minutes? But they get the keys to the kingdom, and they’re the deciders, so you just have to live with it.”

Despite Luke’s “passing” in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, audiences will get to see the character again in Star Wars: Episode IX when it lands in theaters on December 20th.

What do you think of Hamill’s proposed idea? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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