Star Wars: The Last Jedi concluded Luke Skywalker’s story perfectly, giving him a quiet, personal moment of becoming one with the Force while also allowing his Force Projection antics to put him in the middle of an insanely bombastic action scene. You couldn’t have asked for a more pitch-perfect end to the character. And yet, this is Star Wars, a franchise notorious for apparently dead Jedi returning as ‘Force ghosts’ to advise the living. So, with that in mind, could Luke return in Episode IX?
Many Star Wars fans practically take it as a given that Hamill will play the character one last time from beyond the grave, probably reaching out to advise Daisy Ridley’s Rey during a particularly low point. But, according to the actor, there’s been no discussion between him and Episode IX writer/director J.J. Abrams about his return just yet. That doesn’t mean Hamill doesn’t have some ideas about how it could go down, though.
In an interview with Radio Times to mark The Last Jedi’s home video release, he was asked if he’d consider returning to the franchise. He quickly said yes, and followed that up with how he’d like it to happen:
“Well I thought, if he’s a Force Ghost I’d love to see him used in a way that hasn’t been done before. I mean let’s use the word ghost! That implies that it’s frightening. What if he… even in some other form, I think it’d be funny… well, I don’t want to give it away. I do have ideas; most of them are so terrible that they don’t consider them at all!
He then went on to expand further on what the new trilogy has meant for him, saying:
JJ gave me one of the most spectacular entrances, certainly of my career, maybe in all of film history. I don’t know if anybody’s been talked about for two hours and then shows up for 30 seconds before the end credits roll. And what a spectacular exit Rian gave me!
Now,’ I said, ‘can’t we push this off to Nine so I can have a beginning, a middle and an end?’ Now I have a beginning and an end. But all things considered, especially when I thought that we would never come back at all, you know I have nothing to complain about. So whether I’m in it or not in it at all, I’m fine with Nine.”
I think chances are strong that Abrams will indeed bring Luke back. After all, the original template for this new trilogy was that The Force Awakens would be Han Solo’s movie, The Last Jedi would be Luke Skywalker’s and the finale would belong to Princess/General Leia. Tragically, reality has intervened to prevent that last one from happening, so what better way to honor the Original Trilogy than to give Luke one final Force ghost hurrah in Star Wars: Episode IX?