Mark Hamill Shares More Thoughts on THE LAST JEDI and Possible Appearance In Episode IX
As we've learned since The Last Jedi has come out in theaters Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is never afraid to voice his opinions on the Star Wars film. And we're learning even more about Hamill's opinions in a new interview with Games Radar. In the interview, Hamill weighs in on Snoke, Broom Boy and Episode IX.
It's no surprise that a lot of Star Wars fans expressed their anger online about certain choices director Rian Johnson made with The Last Jedi. Hamill says he understands why some people got upset. "I relate to the fans because I’m a fan myself," the actor says. "I understand that they have a deep investment, a sense of ownership, because I do too and the problem is, you just can’t please everyone."
But Hamill went on to say that those folks who get upset by the sudden, shocking death of Snoke are just being silly:
“I was surprised everyone was so upset that they got rid of Snoke. From Rian’s point of view, it was a big favourite for [Episode] 9 because he’s not important. It clears the deck to have the conflict between Kylo and Rey without him getting in the way and having to explain if he’s a clone or if he’s related to Palpatine…all that stuff”.
Then Hamill shared his opinion on the controversial "broom boy" ending of The Last Jedi that shows a kid working in the stables on Canto Bight gazing into the stars, clutching his broom in his hand a lot like a lightsaber. Rian Johnson wanted this boy to signify that the Star Wars story is a lot bigger than the characters we are all used to seeing.
“What I love particularly was – and they didn’t have to do this because the movie’s over – all of a sudden you cut to the stable and there’s that little boy, he puts out his hand and the broom comes to him…It’s so subtle, the first time I saw it I thought he just took it, but if you look he puts his hand out and it moves over for him, implying that yeah, she’s [Rey’s] the last Jedi…until the next Jedi. It’ll go on forever, believe me. Long after both of us are gone they’ll be making these films from here into eternity.”
And if you haven't seen The Last Jedi by now you have probably learned that Luke dies at the end of the movie. But does that mean we won't see Luke in Episode IX? Hamill says he "hasn’t really thought about it", mostly because he feels like Luke’s story had a great sense of closure in The Last Jedi. Hamill adds that returning in the next Star Wars film doesn't seem very appealing since there’s no chance of him acting alongside Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher again:
“I haven’t really thought about it because there’s such a sense of closure, Luke’s story is told. What more can I do? And you know, you have to start disconnecting from it emotionally…The main thing [that shocked me in Star Wars: The Force Awakens] was – Han Solo is killed! I’ll never get to work with Harrison again. Luke will never see Han again. That’s what struck me, that was the first break, we lost a member of the band. And then what happened with Luke [in The Last Jedi], I said ‘Ok, that’s the next link’ when I was still thinking I’ll come back as a Force ghost. And then to lose Carrie in real life, I said ‘That’s it’. They say you can never go home again, and that for me was the real indication that it’s time to move on.”
Hamill has proven to be a bit misleading in the past so there is a chance that he is just leading us on; you can't tell me there is no way he has thought about appearing in Episode 9 once or twice. But it would make sense from a story perspective that J.J. Abrams won't be bringing Skywalker back in any way for Episode 9.