Mark Hamill Reflects on 42 Years as Luke Skywalker In Letter

Actor Mark Hamill had the unusual privilege of inhabiting one iconic character over forty years, taking him from naive youth, to Jedi Knight, to disillusioned Master, and finally, to the great beyond. But with the release of The Rise of Skywalker, he gets to finally say a real goodbye to Luke Skywalker, this time for good (probably).

As part of the release of the complete Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga on 4K Ulta HD, Hamill wrote a heartfelt farewell letter to the saga that made him a household name, which came included with the recent box set. He recently posted the letter in its entirety to Twitter, so every fan can now read it for themselves. You can check it out down below:

In the letter, Hamill references how when he signed on for the project, it was still referred to as The Adventures of Luke Starkiller, as Taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars. Thankfully, someone was wise enough to shorten that title. Whoever it was that convinced George Lucas to reduce the word count there—we owe you one. Because that right there is a mouthful.

Hamill was always one of the few cast members who really believed that he would still be playing Luke decades later. Back in 1983, when promoting Return of the Jedi, Hamill told the interviewer that George Lucas had told him that he’d one day play Luke as an older Jedi Master. In Lucas’ mind, Luke would be “passing on Excalibur” to the newer generation. Lucas originally told him it would probably happen on 2011! So he was off by a handful of years, but it’s nice to see that original plan actually got to come true for him.

While I do think this is the last time we’ll see Hamill play Luke in live-action, this fan holds out hope that Hamill can be coaxed back to play Luke in an animated version of some sort at some point down the line. I mean, what Star Wars fan doesn’t want to see Luke Skywalker finally meet Ahsoka Tano? I imagine those two would have a lot to talk about.

Featured Image: Lucasfilm