2022 will mark two years since Luke Skywalker made his hair-raising return to the Star Wars franchise via The Mandalorian Season 2 and unsurprisingly, the entire fandom still couldn't help but gush over his epic cameo appearance whenever the subject is brought up. When the cloaked Jedi emerged during the final moments of "Chapter 16: The Rescue" to decimate the Dark troopers and reveal himself, a lot of viewers noticed a drastic change in Luke's appearance.
Turns out, it was all intentional and according to Phil Szostak, Lucasfilm creative art manager and author of The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2, it was a conscious effort on their part to remain faithful to Luke's original design from his Return of the Jedi appearance while adding in a few details that will help make him look updated, at least for The Mandalorian's timeline.
Speaking with StarWars.com (via The Direct), Szostak explained: "You don’t want to just assume that Luke only has, like, one pair of clothes (laughs). So, you know, something that would be appropriate to who Luke was, and that’s recognizable and as iconic as his Jedi look in Return of the Jedi. But also updating it and bringing it to the modern age, and just making slight tweaks. It’s that balance between remaining faithful yet bringing something new to it, or just translating it into something that will work for the purposes of this particular show."
Also Read: The Mandalorian: Dave Filoni Explains Why Ahsoka Tano Looks Different
It's this great attention to detail Star Wars is known for that made Luke Skywalker's The Mandalorian cameo truly special. And while Szostak didn't mention Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, I'm pretty sure they also had a hand at this which no longer comes as a surprise because they really know what they're doing.
Now, as for the future of Luke post-The Mandalorian Season 2, Chapter 16 obviously set the stage for his eventual return to the MandoVerse and while we're still being kept under the dark regarding future plans for him and Baby Yoda, I think we can all rest assured knowing that we haven't seen the last of the famed Jedi Master.
The Mandalorian Season 3 is currently in production.
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