When Mark Hamill returns to deliver the Luke Skywalker's first lines onscreen in 34 years, he won't be the same character that millions of fans have idolised for decades. Luke, who went into hiding after his pupil Kylo Ren joined the Dark Side, is disillusioned and bitter in early trailers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This is the first real look audiences will really get of the character in decades, since his presence in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was only a brief cameo at the end of the movie.
His absence in the highly anticipated Episode 7 was a point of contention between Hamill and Star Wars producers, with director and writer J.J. Abrams telling the New York Times that Hamill was "not particularly happy with how little he was in it."
Mr. Hamill does not deny his initial disappointment, though he said he was mostly afraid that Luke's big reveal at the end would fall flat. "If it smacks the audience as a cheat or a gimmick, if there's a big groan in the house, the egg's on my face, not J.J.'s," he said.
Of course, now Hamill has come around to appreciating the build up to his big reveal in Episode 8. But that's not the only point on which Hamill disagreed, as the New York Times reports:
While Mr. Hamill tries not to dispute the Star Wars filmmakers on big plot points—he's still not sure whether Mr. Lucas always intended for Luke and Leia to be brother and sister‚he found himself full of strong opinions about how the character he has been associated with for 40 years should be presented in The Last Jedi.
"That's the hard part," Mr. Hamill said. "You don't want to admit how possessive you've become. There are times where you go, 'Really? That's what they think of Luke? I'm not only in disagreement‚I'm insulted.' But that's the process and you thrash it all out."
And who could blame him? Luke Skywalker has come to consume and define Mark Hamill's life. Obviously, discovering you grew up to be a bitter old hermit would be kind of disappointing. But we won't know exactly how Luke has changed until he returns on 15 December.
