As soon as that lone X-Wing arrived to save the day during The Mandalorian‘s season two finale, I knew it was Luke Skywalker. There was no other Star Wars character that made sense. But I was still full of anticipation when he removed his hood, because I believed it might be someone besides Mark Hamill playing the role of the famous Jedi. I genuinely thought, in that moment, it might be another Disney star, Sebastian Stan. For years the internet has noted how much the Winter Soldier looks like a young Hamill. The two have even joked about being father and son themselves. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to recast the iconic character, so he can be around for decades worth of stories set between the original trilogy and the sequels.
Of course it was Hamill. And it was incredible. But the switch could have worked. If there was any doubt about that, a new deepfake video replacing Mark Hamill’s face in Star Wars shows Sebastian Stan was the possible replacement we were looking for.
The YouTube channel Shamook finally sent the MCU’s Stan to the galaxy far, far away. This deepfake video (which we first saw at Winter is Coming) digitally replaces Hamill’s face in Return of the Jedi with the Marvel star’s visage.
No one is going to confuse these two for identical twins. (Though you can argue Stan looks more natural as Luke Skywalker here than the de-aged Hamill did on The Mandalorian. And this would have worked even better with A New Hope, before Hamill’s accident.) But the differences are only really apparent when they are side-by-side. In the solo shots where Stan replaces Hamill entirely, it’s easy to see why they have always been linked.
Lucasfilm/Shamook
If Lucasfilm ever did decide to recast its most famous Jedi, like Grogu, they know who to call. Just make sure Sebastian Stan knows how to fly an X-Wing.
Featured Image: Lucasfilm/Shamook
