Luke Skywalker is back in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” but he’s a very changed man. “I only know one truth: It’s time for the Jedi… to end,” he’s declared in the promos for the film. The iconic hero of the original trilogy is on a new path, however, it’s one that Mark Hamill has made very clear that he didn’t agree with at the start.
In multiple interviews so far, the actor revealed that when Rian Johnson first shared his vision for the older, exiled Luke Skywalker, he didn’t take kindly to it. But it’s an experience that the director credits with, ultimately, making the character stronger.
“We then started a conversation,” Johnson told Rolling Stone about the initial disagreement with Hamill. “We went back and forth, and after having to explain my version, I adjusted it. And I had to justify it to myself, and that ended up being incredibly useful. I felt very close to Mark by the end. Those early days of butting heads and then coming together, that process always brings you closer.”
It was all part of a process of building the character who was reintroduced at the end of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Johnson had to figure out where to take Luke Skywalker from there, and he had some pretty wild, early ideas.
“Did I ever tell you that early on when I was trying to figure out the story for this,” he asked Hamill. “I had a brief idea I was chasing where I was like, ‘What if Luke is blind? What if he’s, like, the blind samurai?’ But we didn’t do it. You’re welcome. Didn’t stick.”
It should be noted, this was before Donnie Yen‘s blind, non-Jedi warrior Chirrut Îmwe was conceived for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” It’s a nifty idea, but perhaps not the right fit for Luke Skywalker. But don’t think that Johnson and co. are just making this up as they go along — as fans should well know by now, development on these movies is painstaking.
“The truth is, stories are made up! Whether somebody made this whole thing up 10 years ago and put it on a whiteboard and we all have to stick to that, or whether we’re organically finding it as we move forward, it doesn’t mean that any less thought is being put into it,” Johnson said.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opens on December 15th.
