Much was made in the lead up to The Last Jedi's release surrounding original Star Wars actor Mark Hamill's comments, in which he revealed that upon reading the script he "fundamentally disagreed" with its interpretation of Luke Skywalker. This excited some and dismayed others, which proved indicative of the divisive reception that the film had upon its release.
Mark Hamill has since walked back these statements, regretting the optics of them and stating that these things were normal in creative processes. They have nevertheless continued to be a talking point, much as they were at SXSW when following the premiere of the documentary The Director and the Jedi a Q&A was held between Hamill, Rian Johnson and producer Ram Bergman.
Conversation naturally went toward Hamill's proper return to the role since 1983's Return of the Jedi with the actor saying "Here I am home again, but it was a house I didn't recognise" and how he prepared for the role after the character had changed and had grown in a direction he perhaps didn't anticipate: "When you get down to it, it's not Mark Hamill in a blockbuster film. It's Luke. I had to do a wild reimagining of the character, like 'hey what happened between the last one and this one, where the most hopeful man in the galaxy becomes a cranky old suicidal man telling people to get off his lawn?"
A fan during the Q&A pressed the actor on this noting the distaste and disagreements that Hamill previously revealed he had with Rian Johnson during production on The Last Jedi.
"It's not distaste at all. It just wasn't a Luke I understood." Hamill clarified, and then echoed previous comments made, about creating a backstory for Skywalker including how in mentoring Ben Solo he "picked the new Hitler to be the next hope and how I justified cutting off my telepathic communication with my sister."
Director and writer Rian Johnson added, "in the context of how this has all been framed, you have to snap your head back and remember that with every single movie, with characters, it's always a dialogue between the director and actors. That's a healthy thing, you always bump heads"
To this point, Hamill revealed that had similar disagreements with franchise creator George Lucas when he read the script for Return of the Jedi, revealing "I read the script and thought 'wait a sec!' I thought I was heading toward the struggle of heading to the Dark Side. I'm in black. I have a glove. I see the trend here."
The actor then later on in the Q&A voiced his regrets about the comments that he made, and also sympathized with fans saying: "I'm like a lot of you. I feel an investment in it, a certain sense of ownership, which is a joke because I don't own it now, Disney does. But you care! That's what happens with these films. I'm sorry I lowered my guard and expressed my misgivings about it. That belongs in the filmmaking process. That doesn't belong to the public. I feel bad because I made that statement before I saw the finished film"
And just what did he think of Rian Johnson's Episode VIII? He called it "probably the most complex Star Wars film since maybe Empire".
I think it's very easy for detractors to point to Hamill's comments as some added vindication fo their hate for the film, which they are fully in their right to dislike, but as the actor and director state; that's a byproduct of the creative process and continually happens. It's only this time that we were given an insight into that. Regardless, whether you loved, loathed or simply liked The Last Jedi that is where the Skywalker story went. Where it goes from here, only time will tell.
What do you think? Have Mark's comments here softened you somewhat to where the film took Luke? Were you always a fan of the film? And where would you like to see Episode IX go in terms of Skywalker's legacy? Leave your thoughts below.