With a director as famously nostalgic as J.J. Abrams at the the helm, it’s strange to think that The Force Awakens essentially denied the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy the opportunity to reunite the three stars of the Original Trilogy when the movie killed off Han Solo, and as it turns out, the missed opportunity left actor Mark Hamill a little upset.
In a recent interview with Den of Geek, Hamill wasn’t shy about voicing his criticisms of the recent Star Wars movies, lamenting Disney’s decision to release Solo: A Star Wars Story mere months after The Last Jedi and calling out Rian Johnson for “forgetting the past.” But one issue that seemed like a particularly sore spot for the Luke Skywalker actor was the death of Han, which ensured that we’ll probably never see Hamill, Harrison Ford and the late Carrie Fisher share the screen again:
“I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centered 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.”
For all his objections to Disney and Lucasfilm’s various decisions this decade, Hamill was also careful to note that it’s all too easy to take his comments out of context, observing how Sequel Trilogy detractors will often pounce on his words as proof that he hates the new movies.
In any case, though there’s been no substantial evidence to suggest that the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX has a reunion between Luke, Han and Leia lined up, it’s at least been confirmed that Hamill is returning to the series, and that Fisher will also be featuring by way of unused footage.
As for Han, the rumor mill has made a few attempts at spreading the claim that Solo might appear in flashbacks – be it through digital trickery or Ford reprising his role – but so far, we’ve seen little reason to believe that the hearsay has it right. Either way, all will be revealed when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.
