The Rise of Skywalker Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker (IX)

[MagnarTheGreat]

Returning cast members [for Episode IX] include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-ix-cast-announced

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Great news! But I'm not that surprised.

 

[Drizzle]

Yeah, we all knew he'd be back as a Force ghost.

 

[Brutikus]

Yeah, we all knew he'd be back as a Force ghost.

THIS for sure.

Predictable but always cool to see Mark H on screen.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

For some reason I don't think we will see Luke as a force ghost.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

If this new trilogy has taught us anything, it's don't assume you know how things are going to play out. People thought Luke was going to go all badass in TLJ and take out the Knights of Ren singlehandedly and look what really happened. Now that Hamill has been announced as being in IX, it's a safer bet that he'll be a force ghost, but I wasn't counting on anything before. TLJ could have just as easily been his last Star Wars movie.

 

[sueb1863]

The novelization makes it pretty clear that he died and joined the Force. Otherwise I'd think he was somehow still alive.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

The novelization makes it pretty clear that he died and joined the Force. Otherwise I'd think he was somehow still alive.

Hopefully he just teleported somewhere. I still hope he is alive.....

 

[sueb1863]

Me, too, but Leia and Rey both sensed him as being gone, and the novelization strongly implies that he's dead. But who knows, it's science fantasy! They can do anything, pretty much.

 

[Brother Jack]

Hopefully he just teleported somewhere. I still hope he is alive.....

Death isn't really death for a Jedi. Luke is alive in a sense; his spirit will be around and involved in the plot. Abrams has free reign to use him however he wants, in whatever capacity. Yoda calling lightning down in VIII implied force ghosts can be much more active in the physical realm.

 

[sueb1863]

I suppose there's always a chance that our first sight of Luke in IX will be him rematerializing somewhere, not dead, and he's super surprised and then Yoda shows up and tells him something to the effect of "The Force still has a job for you" and then Luke's off and running.

 

[AFriend]

Seems the best route is that Luke projected his death to Rey and Leia; so, when Kylo scanned their minds, he would believe Luke to be dead. I doubt after biting the Luke bullet, they go back; but, personally, it would take away the sour taste Ep VIII left in my mouth.

 

[sueb1863]

That's possible, too. They could do pretty much anything since it's science fantasy and we don't know what Luke learned from the ancient texts. He had a lot of time along on the island and not much to do but read.

 

[Karelia]

Seems the best route is that Luke projected his death to Rey and Leia; so, when Kylo scanned their minds, he would believe Luke to be dead. I doubt after biting the Luke bullet, they go back; but, personally, it would take away the sour taste Ep VIII left in my mouth.

I like this. I like this a lot. t:

 

[wampa1]

Seems the best route is that Luke projected his death to Rey and Leia; so, when Kylo scanned their minds, he would believe Luke to be dead. I doubt after biting the Luke bullet, they go back; but, personally, it would take away the sour taste Ep VIII left in my mouth.

That would be a terrible idea.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

I wonder if Luke found a way beyond being a force ghost and is able to project himself back to his physical form for a short time? I think it could be an easy way to bring him back for this movie without him being a force ghost the entire movie.

 

[henzINNIT]

I don't think we'll see a resurrection personally, but all bets are off as to what Luke can do from the other side.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Time shall tell....

 

[TheVileOne]

That would be stupid. If you actually went through the process of "resurrecting" Luke Skywalker, what purpose would that serve and why? Resurrect and then what? Keep him alive for the rest of the foreseeable future? And do what?

As Luke said, he will not be the last Jedi. A new group of young people is taking up the slack now and will carry on the Jedi's legacy.

So you resurrect Luke when and how? And how will that work? It makes absolutely no sense. This is the last movie in a trilogy. So you spend two hours figuring out a way to resurrect Luke Skywalker, and then in the last 20 minutes bring him back and then he steals the show from everyone else when this whole trilogy has generally been about Rey?

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Mark Hamill: "I sure hope so [that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is my last appearance as Luke]. (laughs)" "Well, because…I had closure in the last one. The fact that I’m involved in any capacity is only because of that peculiar aspect of the Star Wars mythology where if you’re a Jedi, you get to come back and make a curtain call as a Force ghost." (June 20, 2019)

 

[The Caped Knight]

Not to state the obvious but I think Hamill is happy to have JJ back to direct. I don't think he had as much fun with Rian Johnson in The Last Jedi.

 

[BatLobster]

Eh, I mean...Hamill was surprised as anyone to discover he only had a cameo at the very end of TFA. And he didn't seem too thrilled about it either. He did one day of actual work with JJ on TFA. Remember, Hamill is on record of saying that he wanted the saber to fly into Luke's hand instead of Rey's. I adore the guy, he's a national treasure, but it's clear he's had some trouble adjusting to not being the main character of the ST.

I hope he's been able to find some closure with his role in TROS though, and I hope his role will be satisfying for all of us.

 

[Frodo]

I actually think Hamill would have been fine with not being the main character of the ST. I get the impression that he just didn't agree what they did with his character and how his character was portrayed . In other words, he wanted the character to go in a different direction.

I tend to think he'll probably stay bitter that the ST didn't go the way he wanted to, but then again, that's pretty common with these legacy type franchises in Hollywood.

Peter Graves objected to how his Jim Phelps character was portrayed in the first Mission Impossible film, Shatner complained about not being asked back for the JJ Abrams Star Trek Reboot, Adam West was depressed when he wasn't asked back to play Batman for the 1989 film, etc.

Not exactly the same as Hamill's situation, but the older generation of actors tend to feel an ownership with these type of characters and don't always agree with the younger filmmaker's visions.

 

[TheVileOne]

Eh, I mean...Hamill was surprised as anyone to discover he only had a cameo at the very end of TFA. And he didn't seem too thrilled about it either. He did one day of actual work with JJ on TFA. Remember, Hamill is on record of saying that he wanted the sabre to fly into Luke's hand instead of Rey's. I adore the guy, he's a national treasure, but it's clear he's had some trouble adjusting to not being the main character of the ST.

I hope he's been able to find some closure with his role in TROS though, and I hope his role will be satisfying for all of us.

Based on what he's said himself at panels, I think it was clear they kind of sprung on him at the last minute it was a small cameo role for him too late and they didn't prepare him for that during the table read. I don't think he expected to be the lead guy, but you know if you're Luke Skywalker and you find out at a table read that you're basically not in the movie until the very end and you have no lines, that can be upsetting.

I would've prepared him ahead of time and said, "OK. Mark, here's the deal. This story is the setup. Luke Skywalker is missing and you will not have a big role in this film because you're MIA and everyone is trying to find you. It's a mystery that everyone is trying to solve. There's a new conflict, and Leia and Han are trying to find you. The new heroes are trying to find you, and your nephew, who is a leader of the new Empire, the First Order, are trying to find you. We are setting up for your story to continue in the next film where you will be take a bigger role on the stage and the spotlight again."

I think the central idea of Luke running away and going into hiding works. Maybe Luke doesn't want to be found because of his failure. I got that sense back in 2015.

 

[BatLobster]

Yeah, they probably could've done a better job easing him into it. At the same time, he likely got paid 7 figures to cameo, so I don't feel too bad for the guy.

I actually think Hamill would have been fine with not being the main character of the ST. I get the impression that he just didn't agree what they did with his character and how his character was portrayed . In other words, he wanted the character to go in a different direction.

I mean, I don't think Hamill would've ever suggested "I should be the main character" in those terms. I think he knew the ST would inevitably be a passing of the torch. But at the same time, for him to suggest that the saber should've flown into his hand at the climactic moment of the film, which would've taken away the culmination of Rey's character arc, her big "moment"...yeah, I think he probably had some confused feelings going on about the whole thing.

But the funny thing to me is, the "moment" he got at the end of TLJ was so much grander and bigger than that anyway. And he got a big character arc out of it too. That he died doesn't matter at all to me. There was never a feeling of "we won't see Luke again". It was more of a "cool, now we'll get to see Force Ghost Luke in the next one" for me. Which is now confirmed.

I don't know, on a basic level I still have no problem with Luke's story in the ST. We establish Luke going into hiding and not wanting to be found because of his failure in TFA. In TLJ, we explore that further and delve into Luke's perspective on the failings of the Jedi Order as a whole, before eventually bringing him back around to being a symbol of hope for the galaxy and a believer...if not in the old Jedi ways, at least in Rey.

That...works, for me. It's a lot more interesting than him just being a straight redo of Obi-Wan in the OT, anyway.

The fact that Palpatine may have been pulling strings all along could add a tragic layer to his arc, where he blames himself for everything not realizing there was a darker force that he couldn't perceive driving the events in motion that would lead to the collapse of everything he loved. We'll see how that plays out, but I'm really interested.