Mark Hamill Shares Birthday Love for His Star Wars Dad James Earl Jones

Star Wars fever might not be at the same throng it was during the holidays, but the fans are still chomping at the bit for more content. A lot of people probably smiled at Mark Hamill taking a second to celebrate James Earl Jones on his birthday. Jones is the voice of Darth Vader and by extension, Luke Skywalker’s dad and Hamill plays up that connection with both the wording of the post and some delightful photos of the two together. Some fans lamented that the actor didn’t get a chance to really be present for The Rise of Skywalker in the same way that some established characters were. But, looking at the leaked script for Episode IX that surfaced this week, there could have been an avenue to have Jones come back and thrill fans with that dramatic voice once again while battling Kylo Ren. Maybe there’s hope for another meeting between the two on a Disney+ project somewhere down the line.

Hamill has had a strange week with participating in a Star Wars Instagram filter challenge. It basically revolved around users getting a roulette wheel of sorts with different characters and then having the wheel stop on the person corresponding with them. Of course, he managed to get Luke Skywalker after some trial and error. Fans were absolutely delighted with the video and shared it pretty widely on social media.

The other event the Star Wars legend got involved in was decidedly more political as he left Facebook and announced his intentions to do so on Twitter. He explained to his followers, “So disappointed that #MarkZuckerberg values profit more than truthfulness that I’ve decided to delete my @Facebook account. I know this is a big “Who Cares?” for the world at large, but I’ll sleep better at night. #PatriotismOverProfits”

After that declaration, people were quick to point out that he was still using Instagram. Why does that matter? Because that platform is still owned by Facebook and that could mean that he’s actively undermining his old stance. In his defense, it can be tough to remember how all of these different services and platforms intertwine. But, still it was a weird observation after such a big declaration.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still in theaters right now.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images