Star Wars legend Mark Hamill has been pretty vocal about his role as Luke Skywalker in the new trilogy. While he's tempered his frustration during promotional appearances for the movies, he still lets loose a few zingers from time to time.
Never one to shy away from backlash or controversy, Hamill shared a fanmade image of Luke, Han, Leia, and Lando all in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. The photo, titled "
Star Wars: What Should Have Been," was an edited shot of Lando from the recent trailer of
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with the original stars photoshopped in around him. Hamill shared the photo with his own hashtag, "#MissedOpportunities."
Hamill, of course, is referring to the fact that fans never got to see the iconic trio of Luke, Han, and Leia on screen together for one final mission. The actor has expressed disappointment in Luke being stranded on an island for just about all of
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, appearing only for a brief moment at the very end of the movie. Meanwhile, in the film Han goes on a secret mission with Chewbacca and Finn and ultimately ends up being killed, destroying any chance of ever seeing Luke, Han, and Leia on screen together one last time.
Hamill apparently received so much negative response to the image he shared that he offered a follow-up tweet in response to the presumed backlash. He claimed to have posted the photo simply because he missed working with Billy Dee WIlliams, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford, and not because he was upset by the way directors J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson have handled Luke Skywalker and the rest of the original cast in the new trilogy.
Knowing how Hamill really feels, though, it seems that the second tweet is nothing more than damage control. In fact, the Skywalker actor recently
appeared on a podcast for The Hollywood Reporter in which he went on a pretty lengthy rant about
The Force Awakens.
He even detailed his own idea that he pitched to director J.J. Abrams to get Luke, Han, and Leia on screen together at the same. Abrams obviously didn't go with Hamill's idea and the result is what it is. Han Solo is dead. Luke Skywalker is dead. And while General Leia is still alive in the films, Carrie Fisher is, sadly, no longer with us.
While fans will never get to experience that one last mission with all three original heroes together, Luke Skywalker (and General Leia) will at least appear in
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — in some form — when it arrives in theaters on December 20.