During a recent interview with The Direct Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson was asked what it was like to discuss the character Luke Skywalker was with Marco Hamill. Apparently, it wasn’t easy and the director said it was “fucking terrifying”.
As you know, fan opinions have been divided over how Luke Skywalker was handled in the film as he was presented as a broken version of the character who was obsessed with his failures involving Ben Solo and struggling with his disillusionment with the Jedi.
I liked some aspects of how Luke was handled, but there were other things I didn’t like. Hamill was very outspoken about his thoughts on the subject and was not happy with it. Johnson said this about talking to Hamill about Luke:
“If Mark Hamill is telling me about Luke Skywalker, I am [going to] listen to him, and me [got to] think about it and discuss with him and go back and forth, and sincerely plumb the depths of my soul and what I have written and find out if this feels right. Also, though, remembering that obviously he created the character on the screen, but it’s Mark Hamill. He’s not literally Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker lives as a creation on that screen. He is a myth and, as such, he only lives in the minds of the people who listen and in various ways believe that myth. And I know it was me. Hence, it is complicated. But I mean, the short answer to your question is that it was fucking terrifying.
He went on to say:
“All the way back and forth on the first day of filming, Mark said, ‘Okay, this is the vision you’re looking for, and I’m going to do the best version of what I can.'”
I’ll say this … The only opinion anyone should have heard regarding Luke Skywalker’s story arc is George Lucas’s opinion. As the creator of the character, the person who knows him inside and out, Lucas is the one they should have listened to. Would you agree?
Well, before Disney bought Lucasfilm, Lucas got a treatment of the story for how he wanted this new trilogy to unfold and, in a way, Johnson followed Lucas’ plan. It is explained that his story was set “30 years after the fall of the Empire, Luke had gone to a dark place and isolated himself in a Jedi temple on a new planet”. Over the course of that film, Luke would rediscover his vitality and reluctantly train this new Jedi. You can see some original concept art for this here.
What are your thoughts on how Luke was handled The last Jedi?
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
