Mark Hamill Complained to George Lucas About This Anti-Climactic Reveal in ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’
Star Wars has meant as much to Mark Hamill as it’s meant to George Lucas and many of the franchise’s fans. Because of this, Hamill found himself getting invested in some of the stories Lucas had planned for his movies.
But there was one revelation at the end of Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy that Hamill felt was a huge let down.
What Mark Hamill wished was different about ‘Return of the Jedi’
Hamill was excited to see how the Star Wars franchise would conclude after Empire Strikes Back. The second movie left the series off with an iconic cliffhanger, while also reintroducing even more fascinating characters to fans. One of those characters was Boba Fett. The space bounty hunter’s mystique and unique aesthetic made him one of the franchise’s most popular characters despite very little dialogue and screen-time.
Hamill hoped to get some answers on Boba Fett in Return of the Jedi. But the veteran voice actor was left disappointed with what Lucas decided to do with the character.
“When I read the third one I mostly was upset with the cavalier attitude towards Boba Fett — he had been built up as this monumental bounty hunter and he … just flies away. I thought that was going to be a major revelation, off comes the helmet, oh my God it’s my mother, she’s a double agent working for the good guys, who knows,” Hamill once told CNN.
It wasn’t until many years later that Boba Fett’s canon would be officially explored in shows like Clone Wars and The Mandalorian. The character even had an entire series dedicated to him with The Book of Boba Fett.
Mark Hamill wanted Luke Skywalker to turn to the dark side in ‘Return of the Jedi’
Boba Fett’s fate wasn’t the only issue that Hamill had with Return of the Jedi. Coming off of Strikes Back, Hamill felt that Jedi was less surprising than the film that preceded it. There weren’t any twists and turns, no huge reveals. Hamill brought his complains about the storytelling to Lucas himself.
“And I said, ‘It’s so predictable and pat,’ and he said, ‘Mark, don’t forget. These things were made for children.’ His original intention was to make movies for, you know, kids! Adolescents and younger. And we’re bringing our adult sensibilities to it and that’s where we go wrong,” Hamill said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Hamill conceded that Lucas was right, which made Jedi’s conclusion make a lot more sense to the star.
“He said, ‘All fairy tales get tied up neatly at the end.’ Because I thought after Empire we should really go crazy as possible with the last one, but there’s a reason why George is where he is and I’m where I am,” Hamill said.
But if Hamill had it his way, Luke Skywalker would’ve gone down the same villainous path as the character’s father. Which Hamill believed was already teased in Strikes Back.
“Well, I thought I was turning evil,” he said. “Because I was wearing all black. I thought I would go to the dark side in the last one. And, of course, you have to redeem yourself. But that movie is the way I felt it was going with the preceding episode. But every actor wants to play their own evil twin.”
Mark Hamill on whether or not he’ll be returning to ‘Star Wars’
Hamill seems to feel that Star Wars fans have seen the last of his Luke Skywalker in the franchise. Still, he didn’t rule out the possibility of reprising Luke someday, although he was content with wrapping up his character’s arc.
“Well, you never say never,” Hamill told CBS News not too long ago. “I just don’t see any reason to. Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore.”
