To say that the ultimate fate of Luke Skywalker has stirred heated debate online would be to deal in wild understatement.
Coming out of The Last Jedi‘s release, Luke’s final moments on Crait (or should that be Ahch-To?) have been raked over the coals, and it’s fair to say that some fans took issue with Rian Johnson and the direction in which he took Star Wars‘ greatest character.
Be that as it may, Johnson has been incredibly forthcoming about his hotly-contested sequel, and appeared alongside Mark Hamill at the ongoing SXSW film festival (h/t IndieWire) to promote The Last Jedi‘s Blu-ray featurette, The Director and the Jedi. It’s a must-see for anyone with even a passing interest in that galaxy far, far away, while Hamill told the SXSW audience that he initially hoped Rian Johnson would spare Luke until the release of Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019.
My first reaction was, ‘Can’t we push this off until [Episode] 9? Luke eventually does the right thing selflessly for the good of the Rebel Alliance, and [I realized] I should do the selfless thing for the betterment of the movie. Seriously. I’m not trying to be self-aggrandizing, I’m just saying, in the greater scope of things, number one, I never expected to come back, so this is all like found money.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle from The Last Jedi, Mark Hamill has come to terms with Rian Johnson’s creative vision. Granted, it’s by no means the first time that the Star Wars icon has raised concern over Skywalker’s arc, given he clashed with George Lucas while creating Return of the Jedi.
It’s all good-natured fun, of course, considering Mark Hamill just wants what’s best for his on-screen icon. And chances are he’ll be back for Star Wars: Episode IX in some shape or form.