The groundswell of support behind the idea of Sebastian Stan inheriting the role of Luke Skywalker from Mark Hamill continues to gain traction, to the extent that Hamill even publicly commented on the matter on social media. He brushed it off by saying he doesn’t hold any sway over the casting decisions made at Lucasfilm, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t ask his opinion before forging ahead.
As for Stan, he said he’d be open to the idea if it was okay with his predecessor, so we’re really just waiting for the studio to announce more adventures for Luke at this point. After all, his cameo during The Mandalorian‘s season 2 finale sent the internet into absolute meltdown, and the de-aging technology isn’t quite capable of pasting Hamill’s face onto a stunt double for an entire season of television.
However, there are two decades in the mythology between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens that could be explored, and not only is The Falcon and the Winter Soldier star a dead ringer for a young Hamill, but at 38 years old, he’s only a little bit older than Mark was when Episode VII was released, and he could easily pass for younger.
In a new interview, Stan was asked outright about the possibility of playing Luke Skywalker, and he admitted the role is as important to him as it is to a lot of people, meaning that he’s fully aware of the pressures that would come with it.
“I always certainly hear about it and I’m always slightly confused because I’m like if there are these conversations happening, why isn’t anybody calling me about it and having a conversation with me about it?. Like anybody, I grew up on Star Wars, and for me, Empire Strikes Back was like one of my favorite movies. And Mark Hamill is one of the most iconic personalities and Luke Skywalker’s an iconic character, so obviously, it doesn’t sound like it’s my choice. It doesn’t feel like it’s up to me. Whatever that needs to be will sort itself out, and if it includes me in any way, hey, who knows.
I’ve always wondered what happens to Luke when it’s the end of Return of the Jedi. Like where does he go, what happens to him? I think those questions would be really interesting. And of course, it’s another one of those things where you’re like, ‘Well, you don’t want to f*ck up that character’. You want to get that one right. But anyway, we’ll see.”
You get the feeling that it’s probably something that’s already been discussed behind the scenes at Disney, and as the small screen Star Wars expansion continues, there’s every chance that we could yet end up with Sebastian Stan as Luke Skywalker.
