'Star Wars’ interest continues to blossom with the sci-fi franchise already planning for Episode IX in 2019, yet one of its leading stars wants to continue his involvement from beyond the grave it seems. Mark Hamill ‘s prominent character Luke Skywalker died at the end of ‘The Last Jedi’ but the still ambitious 66-year-old yearns for a comeback as a scary ghost in future films.
Popular characters brought back before
It wouldn’t be the first time that the film has drawn on seemingly deceased teacher characters to temporarily reprise their roles, offering them the chance to provide further wisdom to their star pupils.
The ever-popular Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi have both performed similar cameos as ‘Force Ghosts’ (or ‘Force Spirits’) to assist relative newcomers in the past.
Make him a scary ghost
However, Hamill would favour a stronger persona than previous reincarnations have displayed, should his reinvolvement become a possibility. Speaking about that option with the Radio Times, the Californian-born actor mused that “if he’s a Force Ghost, I’d love to see him used in a way that hasn’t been done before.” As for just what that might mean, he added that “let’s use the word ghost. That implies it’s frightening.” He clearly has some ideas that could be explored, but it’s early days as far as putting them into fruition.
Episode IX will mark the third and final episode in the 'Star Wars’ sequel trilogy. J.J. Abrams is expected to return as the film’s director to pick up the reins from Rian Johnson (‘The Last Jedi’), and popular characters such as Daisy Ridley’s ‘Rey’ and John Boyega’s ‘Finn’ have been lined up to reprise their key roles in the narrative.
Heroic act isn’t the end for Skywalker?
After Luke Skywalker’s heroic act to sacrifice his own life to assist in the escape of other members of the Resistance, that was thought to be the end of his contribution to the new trilogy. Yet as ever you should never say never in the movies it seems, especially as Skywalker’s final scene in ‘The Last Jedi’ saw him become one with the Force, in a similar manner to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda before him.
Twitter popularity
The popularity of the franchise is reflected by social media statistics as well, although Star Wars films can no longer claim top spot in the Twitter stakes. ‘Black Panther’ now holds that distinction, having recently surpassed both ‘The Last Jedi’ (third) and ‘The Force Awakens’ (second), as the pop-culture box-office smash hit has now been tweeted about on more than 35 million occasions.
