The news cycle is getting ready to go to a galaxy far, far away. Today is the start of Star Wars Celebration, a massive promotional event in London, where all kinds of goodies about the upcoming films are going to be dropped (including a new trailer for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” so stay tuned). But first we’re going to turn the clock back slightly to “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” It’s funny to think that just a year ago, we had no idea about anything in the film, particularly the extent of Luke Skywalker’s role, with many rumors in the lead up to the movie suggesting he was in a fully blown supporting role. That turned out not to be the case at all, with the most iconic character only appearing at the end of the film, in exile, wordlessly looking at Rey as she offers him his lightsabre. And as you might imagine, Mark Hamill was a bit surprised about the extent of his appearance when he first got the script.
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“You should have seen me. What are the very first words in the crawl? ‘Luke Skywalker has vanished,’” Hamill told the crowd at Star Wars Celebration (via EW). “I said, ‘Hoo, this is gonna be good!’”
As Hamill explains, he continued reading, trying to figure out where Luke would appear, and it was at a moment, that I have to admit, I thought he might pop up too.
“I’ll tell you where I thought I came in – in the forest, when the lightsaber [wiggles] like this, and flies off. I thought, ‘Oh, what a great entrance!’ GAH! Rey caught it…? She hasn’t even been to Dagobah for training! What’s the deal?,” he said, clearly joking at the end.
That would’ve been quite the scene had it worked out that way, but almost something of a heroic cliché if that was the path J.J. Abrams had chosen to go down. Instead, Luke’s appearance right at the end offers a great entry point into ‘Episode VIII,’ where Hamill will have actual dialogue, and he’s already quite excited.
“I was looping ‘Episode VIII’ yesterday, and there’s dialogue in there, and I thought, ‘Oh boy, I can already see this on a T-shirt. Rian Johnson is amazing,” he teased. “He’ll make you forget all about ‘May the Force be with you.’ He’s come up with so many new catchphrases.”
“Star Wars: Episode VIII” arrives on December 15, 2017.