If you’re one of the countless Star Wars fans that feel like the vast majority of the beloved sci-fi series’ Disney era has been one disappointment after the other, and hoped that The Rise of Skywalker would finally bring the franchise’s over-reliance on the Skywalker family to a close, then it looks like you could be in for some more bad news.
We previously reported that Lucasfilm were considering the idea of giving Daisy Ridley’s Rey her own solo movie, something that was then backed up by trusted insider Daniel Richtman, which would follow the Sequel Trilogy’s heroine as she attempted to train a new generation of Jedi in the aftermath of the latest war over control of the galaxy.
Despite Mark Hamill announcing that he was officially done with Star Wars though, we’ve heard that the studio are still planning on having Luke Skywalker involved in Rey’s movie, showing up at some point as a Force Ghost. According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us Ahsoka Tano is coming to The Mandalorian and Rey would be revealed as Palpatine’s [SPOILERS] in Rise, both of which were correct – they might even go down the Solo route and cast someone else in the role. From what we understand, if they can convince Mark to return, he’ll show up as old Luke. But if he won’t budge, then the Force Ghost appearance will be from a younger Luke, with another person taking on the part – likely an actor who resembles a young Hamill.
Given that Luke and his sister Leia had such a profound affect on Rey’s character arc, it makes sense that they would want him involved in the proposed spinoff. However, now that Hamill has seemingly ruled himself out, the idea of having anyone else in the role kind of seems tantamount to sacrilege, even if it’s only said to be a cameo appearance as a Force ghost.
Of course, one of the reasons why Solo bombed is that fans didn’t have much interest in seeing the title character in any other form than that of Harrison Ford, and the same logic will surely apply to Luke Skywalker. The Mandalorian has already shown that great Star Wars adventures don’t always have to tie directly back to the events of the Original Trilogy, and if Rey does end up headlining her own spinoff, then surely there’s a way to crack the story that doesn’t involve either re-casting or digitally recreating the legendary Jedi Master.
That’s for Lucasfilm to decide, but we’re told that right now, at least, they want Luke in the film in some form – be it Hamill or a younger actor – and we’ll just have to wait and see which route they ultimately head down.