Before we get stuck into what is an absurdly grim backstory for the great Luke Skywalker, we should stress that Mark Hamill is recalling a hypothetical scenario designed to bring him a little closer to the jaded Jedi. So don’t be fooled into thinking that this extract is suddenly canon, or that it’ll factor into the story of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
During the early days of Rian Johnson’s sci-fi sequel, it turns out Hamill dreamed up his own backstory for Luke, which essentially explains how the Star Wars legend wound up on Ahch-To soon after the events of Jedi.
And though Luke’s exile can largely be traced back to a fallen Jedi Order and his temperamental nephew (Ben Solo/Kylo Ren), these harrowing events pale in comparison to the made-up scenario that Hamill imagined. Via Entertainment Weekly, the actor spilled the beans on his alternate story, along with its chilling real-world parallels.
I wrote lots and lots of scenarios. I made notes that he fell in love with a woman who was a widow and had this young child. He left the Jedi to raise this young child and marry this woman, and the child got hold of a lightsaber and accidentally killed himself.
Hamill continued:
It’s nothing to do with the story, but when I think about gun violence and you read these tragic stories of kids getting hold of their parents’ guns and killing a sibling or themselves, I mean, I had to go to really dark places to get where Luke needed to be for this story.
Again, this was merely a way for Mark Hamill to drop into a character that he hasn’t really portrayed for nigh on 30 years. That all changes with the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi though, which will seemingly begin with the word “we’re.” We’re in trouble, perhaps? Or, we’re in this together? Your guess is as good as ours.
