Luke Skywalker is one of the most iconic heroes in film history. Luke, and Mark Hamill's portrayal of him, is a big part of the reason that millions became Star Wars fans overnight. But Luke was also very much a product of his time. Recent Star Wars movies have given a much larger stage to female characters, largely because the previous films were much more focused on male heroes. But what if that hadn't been necessary because Luke Skywalker had been female to begin with?
I mean, he probably wouldn't have been named Luke to start with, but some fans recently investigated this idea, not of making Leia the main character of the original Star Wars movie, but of actually transforming Mark Hamill's character into a woman. It's a little weird, to be sure, to see Luke as a woman, but Mark Hamill seems to approve and really that's all that matters. Honestly I can't decide if the best part of this is female Luke, or that fact that Mark Hamill's response is actually a vague Simpsons reference.
The gender flipping of popular movie characters is the latest trend to hit the internet that probably wouldn't be a thing if we weren't all stuck at home. I've seen gender flipped Star Trek and Harry Potter characters as well. Generally, they all seem to fall into something akin to the uncanny valley. They all look remarkably good and real, while also looking slightly disconcerting.
Some of these particular images look better than others. Luke in the Stormtrooper armor looks like it could just be Mark Hamill in heavy makeup. Some of others look a bit more like they could actually be a different actor.
Mark Hamill says the pictures make him feel pretty and it has to be said that a lot of the commenters are now feeling a bit...uh, confused, about their feelings toward the pictures. Clearly, Hamill isn't the only person who thinks Luke looks pretty here, and that's potentially causing some fans to reexamine their own feelings.
A female Luke Skywalker is certainly an interesting thought experiment if nothing else. It wouldn't have to change Star Wars in any major way from a plot perspective, but it certainly would have changed the franchise in little ways. And considering how popular Star Wars became, it could have had a major impact on the industry as a whole. We saw lots of movies that came out following Star Wars that tried to find success with similar films, if a female protagonist had been part of that equation, just imagine how many more we would have seen back in the '70s and '80s.
Of course, if Luke had been female, we might not have gotten the likes of Rey and Jyn Erso today, and that would be a loss as well.
