J.J. Abrams made us wait to see Mark Hamill again during Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as the opening scroll explained that Luke Skywalker had gone missing prior to the events of the film. The last Jedi eventually appeared in the final scene though, when Rey located him on Ahch-To. However, it was the actor’s hope that he could’ve turned up earlier to surprise – and delight – audiences.
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hamill revealed what he pitched to Abrams about a barnstorming entrance for Luke prior to the ending. It seems he really wanted to get a chance to reunite with his old co-stars Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher in the movie, so he suggested a heroic return for his character.
“Everyone talks about the shock of realizing that, on Force Awakens, I don’t come in until the last page, a bigger shock to me was them killing Han Solo before Luke could ever see his best friend again. I mean, it might be selfishly motivated, but I said, ‘Holy cow, that’s a real missed opportunity.’ Even having the three of us together, even briefly. I pitched Abrams on the idea of, ‘You can still have me come in at the very end, but how about this. How about Leia’s trying to contact me telepathically, she gets frustrated because there’s no answers, so she rushes to the new Death Star’–that’s three, so far.”
“‘And she almost gets there but she gets stopped by two Stormtroopers and, just before she’s abducted, one Stormtrooper turns to the other one, blows him away, pulls off his helmet and says “Hi, sis, I’m here to rescue you.”‘ I say, ‘It’ll blow the roof off the joint, I’m still in it at the very end.'”
Star Wars fans have always respected Hamill for expressing his honest thoughts about the movies. Famously, he was open about his initial problems with Rian Johnson’s dark plans for Luke in The Last Jedi. However, once these were blown out of proportion, he clarified that he still supports the director’s need to tell his own story. Honestly, it sounds like of the two movies, Hamill has more of a problem with the lack of the original trio getting back together in The Force Awakens.
The actor’s no doubt right that fans would have gone crazy for his version of events, too. Many are still not over the gloomy Luke we got in TLJ and a more gung-ho character in line with his youthful self in the first trilogy would have pleased those viewers. It’s up to Abrams again now to appease the fanbase in Star Wars: Episode IX, which arrives in theaters on December 20th.
