You weren’t the only one taken aback by Luke Skywalker and his ill-tempered disposition in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
As part of the sequel’s Director and the Jedi featurette, Mark Hamill recently recalled the back-and-forth discussions he had with Rian Johnson, and why they weren’t all that different from the good-natured clashes involving him and George Lucas on Return of the Jedi.
But whereas Richard Marquand’s threequel brought Luke back at a time when the Rebel Alliance needed him most, The Last Jedi placed our curmudgeonly hero on the opposite end of the galaxy – Ahch-To, to be specific – where he’d embraced a lonely fate far, far away from the war between the First Order and the Resistance. And it’s that sudden transition, from a beacon of hope to a sulky loner, that took Hamill by surprise.
As you’ll no doubt be familiar with, the actor made some comments prior to the film’s release, stating that he disagreed with the direction Johnson was taking Luke in. Eventually, though, he came around and now, regrets voicing those criticisms in a public forum. Not for the first time, Hamill’s said that he wishes he hadn’t passed judgment so quickly, and instead waited until he saw the whole movie put together to express his thoughts.
“I wish they hadn’t done that. I’ll tell you why, because that should remain in the rehearsal process. That should be between the screenwriter and the director and I regret saying that out loud.
I said it before I saw the whole movie put together. It prejudices people in a way that’s unfair because people that are unhappy with the movie will cite that and say, ‘See? Hamill hated it too.'”
Though these comments mostly echo what the actor’s said in the past on the topic, it’s still nice to hear him reflecting on the situation and realizing that he may have rushed to judgement. Granted, nothing he says now will be able to change the minds of those who did indeed take issue with Luke’s arc even after having seen the film, but it’s good to know that in the end, Hamill was happy with the direction that Rian Johnson took the iconic character in.
Currently available across Digital HD, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is due to make a beeline for Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, March 27th. And though it has, as we mentioned, sparked heated debate across the four corners of the Internet – debate that largely stemmed from Luke’s fate and the somewhat understated reveal of Rey’s parents – the sequel’s backlash won’t have any bearing on Rian Johnson’s future entries in the Star Wars universe.
