After Star Wars: The Force Awakens killed off Han Solo, The Last Jedi gave our inner child another slap to the face when Luke Skywalker died at the end of the movie, vanishing into the Force after protecting his friends from the First Order’s attack. Unlike Han’s death, though, this scene did potentially allow for some ambiguity when it comes to Luke’s fate.
Someone who desperately wants to believe that Luke’s really alive somewhere out there is the man who’s played him for the past 40 years, Mark Hamill. While speaking to the BBC, Hamill admitted that he refuses to believe this is the end for his character. He’s even come up with a (tongue-in-cheek) reason for why Luke’s Jedi cloak was left behind when he disappeared:
“I refuse to believe that he’s gone. My theory is he just teleported to somewhere else and left his robe behind. He teleported to a nudist colony, that’s what I’m hoping.”
Well, that certainly would be a twist. Hamill is, of course, referring to Luke’s emotional final scene, which sees the Jedi master looking out over the dual sunset on Ahch-To for the last time before he fades away and his cloak drifts to the ground. Hamill isn’t the first to question the logic of this scene, either. It’s previously been pointed out that Luke’s cybernetic hand should have also been left behind when he became one with the Force.
While we can’t see Hamill’s suggested nudist colony escape plan becoming canon anytime soon, we suspect there’s a good chance the character could return in some form in Episode IX. Potentially in a flashback to his training of Kylo Ren at the Jedi Academy but most likely as a Force ghost. After all, TLJ director Rian Johnson has already explained that he thought his decision opened up “more possibilities” for what his successor J.J. Abrams could do with Luke in the next movie.
It’ll be a while yet before we learn whether or not we’ll ever see Hamill’s character again, but in the meantime, you can relive Luke’s final (?) moments when Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives on Digital HD on March 13th and on Blu-ray March 27th.
