Star Wars: The Last Jedi was nothing if not divisive.
It was also an incredibly rich and beautiful expansion of the series lore, but hey, that’s just one man’s opinion. There is, however, another person who viewed The Last Jedi quite differently when it first released – Mark Hamill.
Yes, the franchise veteran didn’t hold back when he openly critiqued some of the creative choices made by writer-director Rian Johnson. But to his credit, Hamill has since changed his tune, and come to realize that The Last Jedi and, in particular, its portrayal of Luke Skywalker, was faithful to the series lore, and not some schmaltzy fan service designed solely to please oversensitive man babies.
It’s a view he still holds to this day, as Hamill revealed to Den of Geek:
The thing is, Luke changed so much between the first trilogy and the last trilogy. I got myself into trouble. I made a vow – I said that I’m not going to talk about the movies anymore, because I think it’s important for the audience to see them. My problem was, I wasn’t dealing with social media back then, where you say something and it goes around the world in 24 hours! If I were to answer your questions on paper, I’d think, ‘Oh, that sounds a little strong, or, I shouldn’t say this.’
Hamill later held his hands up, admitting that he spoke out of turn. Though he still pointed the finger of blame at media outlets eager to spin past quotes into a sensationalist headline.
But I have a tendency just to talk and talk and talk, and you can cherrypick. You know, I’ll be reading something, and say, ‘What moron said this?’ and then realize, ‘Oh, it’s me.’ They can take selective comments you’ve made out of context and use it to support their argument. ‘See, Mark hated Star Wars!’ ‘Did I?’
The Last Jedi is currently available across all the usual platforms, though its sequel, the so-far untitled Episode IX, is currently frozen in carbonite at Lucasfilm HQ. Its ETA? December 20th.