As popular as the franchise is overall, every individualStar Warsmovie released since 1980’sEpisode V – The Empire Strikes Backhas been divisive, to different extents and for different reasons. But nearly eight years after its release, 2017’sEpisode VIII – The Last Jedicontinues to provoke many of the most heated debates among fans. The eighth entry in the franchise’s main Skywalker Saga, written and directed byRian Johnson, received high praise from professional film critics upon its release and is described by many fans (often those who also enjoy Johnson’s other, original films) as one of the franchise’s strongest installments. However,while it was a major box office success,it ultimately grossed less than the first entry in the Sequel Trilogy,Episode VII – The Force Awakens, and has continued to be the target of fierce criticism from a different portion of the fanbase that is often particularly vocal.
One of the many hotly debated controversies about the film focuses onthe storyline it gives to the franchise’s original protagonist, Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill), with even Hamill himself having described his own mixed feelings about his signature character’s portrayal at times. However, Hamill’s past comments, with which he seemed to object to the initially pessimistic aspects of Luke’s arc in the film, make his most recent ones surprising, as the latter ones reveal that he himselfhad imagined an even darker backstory for Luke than the one the film presents.
Mark Hamill Envisioned an Even Darker Future for Luke Skywalker
FollowingThe Force Awakens’ cliffhanger ending,The Last Jedibegins with Force-sensitive Resistance operative Rey (Daisy Ridley) finding Luke in hiding at the original island Jedi temple on the planet of Ahch-To, where he has been since his nephew and former apprentice, Ben Solo (Adam Driver), massacred Luke’s other Jedi students and became the Sith apprentice Kylo Ren.Luke at first refuses to train Rey in the ways of the Force,only subsequently agreeing to do so in the hopes that he can convince her that the Jedi Order was corrupt and needs to be allowed to die out completely. While Luke eventually changes his mind and sacrifices his life to help the Resistance escape Ben’s latest offensive,even his initial reluctance is the subject of debate and criticism, including from Hamill, with detractors arguing that it is out of character given Luke’s heroic portrayal in the series’ Original Trilogy.
In recent interviews ontheBullseyepodcastand withEntertainment Weekly, Hamill clarified his past comments, noting that he supports Johnson’s creative decisions but initially did not find even Ben’s massacre to be tragic enough of a reason to motivate Luke to leave the ways of the Jedi, and arguably more importantly, the Resistance/New Republic, behind. He describedhis own attempts to come up with alternative histories for Luke’s experiences in the years between the trilogies, elaborating on one in which Luke marries a widow and begins helping her raise her young son, only for the boy to accidentally kill himself playing with Luke’s lightsaber, after which the mother would commit suicide.
While this backstory definitely is even more disturbing, the one presented byThe Last Jediis ultimately more fitting, both for the film as an individual story and as a continuation of the franchise. First and foremost,Hamill’s imagined story would have diverted considerably from what had already been establishedabout the character’s experiences followingEpisode VI – Return of the Jedi.The Force Awakensplainly states that Luke was in the process of training Ben when the latter turned to the Dark Side of the Force and strongly implies that Ben was at least somewhat involved in the end of Luke’s new Jedi Order and that this is the main reason Luke has gone into hiding.The reveal that Luke also established and lost a new family in this time period would be redundant, piling multiple tragedies on top of one another for the character in a way that could have easily been unconvincing. Likewise, while a chilling reminder of the real-world danger of unattended weapons, the story of Luke’s new wife and son imagined by Hamill is arguably too horrifically bleak for the generally family-friendly Star Wars series, even more so than the dark, adult-oriented elements in other installments likeEpisode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Luke’s ‘Last Jedi’ Story Enriches the Star Wars Saga
Furthermore, the final version of the story more strongly echoes past depictions of how the Dark Side tempts characters in the Star Wars universe in general and the Skywalker family specifically. InEpisode I – The Phantom Menace, Yoda (Frank Oz) tells the child version of Luke’s father, Anakin (Jake Lloyd), that fear, especially the fear of loss, often serves as a path to the Dark Side. His words turn out to be sadly prophetic inEpisode IIIwhen Anakin (Hayden Christensen) chooses to become the Sith Lord Darth Vader,doing so mostly in the hopes of saving his wife, Padmé (Natalie Portman), who he fears will die in childbirth.
InThe Last Jedi,after speaking with Ben telepathically, Reydemands Luke tell her the full story of the massacre, which he reluctantly does. Luke had sensed both the adolescent Ben’s increasingly powerful connection to the Force and the influence First Order Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) was exerting over him with the Dark Side. One night, while watching a sleeping Ben, Luke became momentarily convinced that he had already been completely corrupted and was therefore a threat to Luke’s other friends and family and the galaxy as a whole. He notes that for a brief momenthe considered killing Ben to neutralize this threat, even igniting his lightsaber, only for the feeling to pass, leaving him feeling ashamed and leading the frightened Ben to lash out, initially in panicked self-defense, before continuing on to kill the other students.
“I Am So Grateful”: Mark Hamill Addresses Luke Skywalker’s Return Status in ‘Star Wars: Episode X’ and ‘New Jedi Order’
“We never expected it to become a permanent franchise."
This twist is itself a target of criticism fromThe Last Jedi’s detractors, who feel that Luke even considering killing his nephew after successfully resisting the Dark Side inReturn of the Jediis inconsistent. But there’s truly nothing in the saga suggesting that justbecause Luke resisted the Dark Side before doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t continue trying to influence him in the future,and the fact that he momentarily became overcome with fear cements Ben’s turn (itself certainly motivated to an extent by angry fear of his uncle’s betrayal) connects their story to Anakin’s in a heartbreaking but fitting way. This makesthe central story of the Sequel Trilogycome across as a more natural continuation of what came before thanHamill’s imagined version, which would have focused on a new tragedy for Luke that effectively comes out of nowhere, in addition to being simply more horrific than necessary.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi
The Star Wars saga continues as new heroes and galactic legends go on an epic adventure, unlocking mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
