Mark Hamill Was Hesitant To Return To The Star Wars Franchise

It might be hard to imagine a Star Wars sequel trilogy without Luke Skywalker, but it seems like there was actually a time that Mark Hamill was hesitant to return to the franchise.

Speaking with the Associated Press (via ABC News), the Star Wars legend admitted that he had a few hesitations appearing in The Force Awakens and returning to the galaxy far, far away. Not only had it been years since Hamill appeared in a Star Wars film, but the Hollywood star also felt like Luke's story in the original trilogy already had a proper end.

"A thing that felt maybe wrong about coming back was the fact that the original trilogy had a beginning, a middle and an end. But there's two ways of looking at that. On the one hand, it had closure. But if you look at it another way, it's the story of how Luke went from becoming a farm boy to a Jedi and then the story ends. It would be like telling the story of how James Bond got his license to kill and became 007, and the story ends."

Hamill was also afraid that things wouldn't turn out as well the second time around, thinking that a third trilogy would have little to do with Luke, Leia (Carrie Fisher), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the rest of the original trilogy characters. Now, as the franchise prepares to release the second installment in the sequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Hamill feels like it's Luke that's changed the most.

"Absolutely. Luke changed, I think, more than the other characters in the original trilogy, from callow farm boy to a Jedi in training to finally a Jedi master. What you're talking about is what really fascinated me. Between "Return of the Jedi" and "Force Awakens," there's just decades of history that's unknown.

So I was wondering how they're going to handle all this. Now, obviously, with "Force Awakens," J.J. (Abrams) had a full plate. It was inevitable that they would push me down the line. I was sorry I wasn't able to work with any of the original actors again. But it's not about us anymore. In this new one, I was saying to Rian Johnson: I need to know my backstory. It was kind of unclear. You read where he is now and what he's doing now and sort of have to fill in the blanks for yourself. So I did do a backstory myself. It's not about Luke anymore, so it's not really important. But I had to make sense of it for myself. What Rian came up with, I was stunned."

There's been a lot of talk about how different The Last Jedi is from the rest of the Star Wars franchise, and based on Hamill's comments, it seems like the franchise is ready to move on and focus on its new characters while honoring the legends of the original trilogy.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits cinemas Dec. 15, 2017.

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