Mark Hamill Criticizes New Star Wars Movies For Forgetting The Past

Having played the most famous Jedi of the entire Star Wars saga, Mark Hamill can get away with being a lot more candid about the franchise than most of his co-stars without the fear of getting in trouble, especially when Star Wars: Episode IX is already set to be his final outing in the series. And in a recent interview with Den of Geek, the star wasn’t shy about offering a few complaints.

As well as criticizing Disney’s choice to release Solo: A Star Wars Story mere months after the previous film and lamenting how Han Solo was killed off before he, Luke and Leia could have an onscreen reunion, Hamill recalled a moment on the set of The Last Jedi which he felt was indicative of the Sequel Trilogy’s emphasis on the new generation of characters over the relationships established in the Original Trilogy:

“They had me walking by 3PO, not even acknowledging him. I said: ‘I can’t do that!’ [Director Rian Johnson] said, ‘Okay, go over and do whatever.’ So I went over, and I did whatever. They say it in the script: ‘Forget the past, kill it if you have to,’ and they’re doing a pretty good job!”

Clearly, Hamill has a few issues with current era of Star Wars, though that’s not to say that the actor counts himself among the Sequel Trilogy’s detractors. In fact, the star prefaced his criticisms with a reminder of how easy it is to take such comments out of context in the age of social media:

“My problem was, I wasn’t dealing with social media back then, where you say something and it goes around the world in 24 hours! If I were to answer your questions on paper, I’d think: oh, that sounds a little strong, or, I shouldn’t say this. But I have a tendency just to talk and talk and talk, and you can cherrypick. You know, I’ll be reading something, and say, ‘What moron said this?,’ and then realize, ‘Oh, it’s me.’ They can take selective comments you’ve made out of context and use it to support their argument: ‘See, Mark hated Star Wars!’ Did I?”

Regardless of Hamill’s gripes with Disney and Lucasfilm, the actor is set to reprise his role in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX, where it’s generally assumed that Luke will be appearing either as a Force Ghost or in flashback. We’ll find out which when the film hits theaters on December 20th, 2019, but in the meantime, here’s hoping that next month’s Star Wars Celebration can finally offer us a little footage.