Some recent comments from Mark Hamill had Star Wars fans concerned as it sounded like the actor didn't like what was happening with Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. Hamill has now clarified those statements. A while back Hamill was quoted as saying that he had fundamental disagreements with Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson over the direction that Luke Skywalker will take in the next movie. Many inferred from the comments that Hamill agreed to go along with the changes only because he deferred to his director's judgment. However, now Hamill has clarified that while he didn't necessarily "get" Johnson's ideas at first, once he did, he was entirely on board. According to Hamill...
I was quoted as saying to Rian that I fundamentally disagree with everything you decided about Luke, and it was inartfully phrased. What I was, was surprised at how he saw Luke. And it took me a while to get around to his way of thinking, but once I was there it was a thrilling experience. I hope it will be for the audience too.
While we don't know exactly what it was about Luke's character in Star Wars: The Last Jedi that Mark Hamill initially had a problem with, we've seen from the first trailer that Luke Skywalker foresees some sort of "end" to the Jedi in the new movie, thus explaining the title. For somebody who has seen Luke grow from farm boy to Jedi Knight from inside the role, it wouldn't be shocking if Hamill was unsure about such a radical shift in the character as Luke is apparently ready to dispose of something that has been a major part of his character.
However, based on Mark Hamill new comments to Variety, it seems that while the actor may have required some convincing by his new director, Rian Johnson was absolutely able to convince him, and now Hamill is on board. It will be interesting to see how the audience responds. Hamill says that he hopes the audience will find it as thrilling as he now does. However, it's also possible the audience could react the same way that Hamill himself did initially. We could be in for a somewhat controversial Star Wars movie.
For his part, Mark Hamill is being very supportive of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He's got nothing but good things to say about Rian Johnson as a director. He remarks on how creative a filmmaker Johnson is, attempting to reassure the audience that they'll like what they eventually see in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Rian Johnson is an amazing filmmaker. And if you look at Brick, or Brothers Bloom, or Looper, each film is different from the last one and they're so inventive. And I think people will be really pleased and surprised, I know I was.
We'll see just how pleased people are when Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres December 15.
