Han Solo’s death at the hands of his estranged son, Kylo Ren, at the climax of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was a pretty rough watch. After all, Han’s a huge part of why the Original Trilogy became so iconic, his cynicism making George Lucas’ universe feel much more relatable.
Mark Hamill clearly agrees, to the point where he’s very forthrightly explained that he thinks J.J. Abrams made a terrible error in killing him off in the first chapter of their Sequel Trilogy. Speaking to Den of Geek to promote his appearance in Knightfall, he laid it all out as so:
“I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centred way. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way. I guess I was wrong, because nobody seems to care! I have to stipulate that I care, but it didn’t really seem to affect the larger audience. Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and I’ll probably never get to work with Harrison again.”
It’s a damn good point, as a reunion of Luke, Han and Leia would have been extremely high on anyone’s wish list when it came to a Sequel Trilogy. It’s also touching that Hamill clearly relishes working with Harrison Ford and, probably correctly given that Ford’s now in semi-retirement, says it’s unlikely he’ll ever get to work with him again (though he could try to get a part in Indiana Jones 5).
All that said, the person pushing hardest for Han to die in The Force Awakens may well have been Ford himself. He famously argued that the character should meet his maker in Return of the Jedi, but Lucas vetoed the idea. It’s entirely possible that he negotiated his return to the role on the basis that Solo would definitely die, thus meaning he’d never be asked to return again.
In fact, back in 2016, the actor shared his thoughts on Han’s death and said the following:
“I think it’s a fitting use of the character. I’ve been arguing for Han Solo to die for about 30 years, not because I was tired of him or because he’s boring, but his sacrifice for the other characters would lend gravitas and emotional weight.”
Tell us, do you agree with Hamill that they should’ve kept Han around for at least one more movie so he could’ve reunited with Luke? Or were you alright with him being killed off in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Let us know in the comments section down below.
