Mark Hamill Responds To Our Report On His Star Wars Return
Mark Hamill is asked about our report on his return to the next Star Wars movie, but he refuses to give a yes or a no.
We recently broke the news that Luke Skywalker would be appearing as a Force ghost in the upcoming Star Wars movie starring Daisy Ridley as Rey. Now, according to Cosmic Book News, Mark Hamill has addressed his return to the franchise with a firm “I’m not telling.” While the answer is far from a concrete yes, it may come closer to confirming our story than you may think.
Esquire recently asked Mark Hamill point blank if he would be returning as a Force Ghost in the still-untitled Rey movie. Ever the consummate Jedi, Hamill attempted to bring balance to the force by neither confirming nor denying his involvement in the upcoming movie, but instead answering with a firm, “We’ll see.”
“If I were involved, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. And if I were not involved, I wouldn’t be able to tell you,” the actor said when discussing the level of confidentiality Lucasfilm demands of all its stars. Hamill followed that up by saying he had no idea if he was returning and that fans would find out with him when and if anything was announced.
Mark Hamill’s answer may seem non-committal, but it’s important to remember that A) actors are generally more willing to speak when they haven’t been cast in something than when they have, and B) Hamill started his answer off with “If I was” not “If I wasn’t.” Whenever a legacy sequel gets announced, the first thing reporters do is go right to the original cast and ask them if they’re involved.
When the original cast is not reprising their roles, as was the case with Laurence Fishburne in Matrix Resurrections, they usually—again, like Fishburne—have no qualms about telling everyone, especially when they weren’t even asked to be involved.
Mark Hamill isn’t the only former Jedi rumored to be appearing in the new Star Wars movie. As we previously reported, there is also talk of Hayden Christensen reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker—also in ghost form. Since the movie focuses on Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order, those two might have company. Other Force Ghosts that could logically appear would be Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn—just to name a few.
Look, we all love Luke Skywalker, but Disney has brought Mark Hamill back either as is or de-aged at least five times now. It’s time to let another Jedi who’s been missing from the Star Wars saga make his triumphant return, purple lightsaber and all. The real fan service would be to bring back Samuel L. Jackson as Mace “Bad MF-er” Windu.
As Mark Hamill himself said in The Last Jedi, “No one’s ever really gone.” While he was referring to Ben Solo’s fall to the dark side, he could have just as easily been talking about Star Wars itself. Boba Fett, Darth Maul, and even Sheev “I fell down a 1,000 foot long shaft and disintegrated into a green cloud, but now I’m better,” Palpatine. It’s entirely plausible, knowing what we do about surviving falls and or amputation in the Star Wars universe, that Mace Windu is still out there somewhere, just waiting to mentor Rey about the ways of the Jedi.
But who are we kidding? Luke Skywalker has been the heart and soul of Star Wars since the beginning. As long as Mark Hamill makes an appearance, any other Jedi (of Sith) that show up will just be icing on the cake.
