Recently, Mark Hamill took to Twitter and said out loud a thing that most Star Wars fans were probably already thinking, that we would never see him in the iconic role of Luke Skywalker ever again. Some may have been holding out hope that we would see Force Ghost Luke down the road, but now the actor seems to be saying he's not interested in that, and now he's explained why,
Speaking to EW, Mark Hamill says that while he certainly loved playing Luke, and everything that the Star Wars franchise did for him, he thinks Luke's story had a clear ending in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While he knows that Star Wars as a franchise will continue on, Hamill wants it to continue with new stories and new actors to tell them. According to Hamill...
I had a beginning, middle, and end. Those films gave me far more than I ever expected when we started out so it's never even occurred to me. My farewell was in Episode IX and it was bittersweet. I love all those people and I certainly have affection for George and the character he created. I'm full of gratitude for what it has given me and my career but I don't want to be greedy. There are still so many more stories to tell and so many great actors to tell them, they don't need me.
Certainly, Mark Hamill loves Star Wars so the idea of not being in future movies is a bittersweet idea for him, but in the end he knows his time has come to an end, and he needs to let the franchise move on and grow without him.
On the one hand, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker certainly puts an end to the Skywalker Saga, as the only character left with a connection to the family name is one who has adopted it. Everybody in the Skywalker lineage is gone. Of course, Luke is a Force Ghost for the entirety of The Rise of Skywalker, and there's no reason that Force Ghost Luke couldn't appear in future Star Wars projects, That's one of the benefits of being a Force Ghost, you can sort of do whatever you want and show up wherever you need.
But don't expect to see that happen. Mark Hamill is ready to hang up his lightsaber and just be a Star Wars fan like the rest of us. He's certainly earned it, and while it would be possible to bring him back, there's certainly no need to do so. As the actor says, there are plenty more Star Wars stories left to tell and with Luke gone we have a chance for others to come up and take center stage. For other characters to wow us and make us fans just like Luke did all those years ago.
