Luke Skywalker’s return in The Mandalorian season 2 had a lot of moving pieces on the production side, and series creator Jon Favreau has revealed what he says is the trick that made it all work. Mark Hamill’s triumphant reprisal of the iconic role has been widely celebrated by Star Wars fans as one of the best moments the franchise has produced in years. From the fight choreography to the costuming and the ultimate reveal, Luke’s cameo was a perfect way to end The Mandalorian season 2, but Favreau says one detail made it all fall into place.
Bringing back a fan-favorite character like Luke Skywalker is no easy feat, both because of the natural challenges of The Mandalorian's CGI de-aging, and because dipping back into a zone filled with such intense nostalgia is inherently tricky. Star Wars fans are legion and at least some will take issue with most moves the franchise makes, regardless of direction. That’s the nature of fame and success of the scale created by George Lucas. But aside from some mild critiques of his computer-altered face, Luke’s return – like The Mandalorian as a whole – has been almost universally praised by fans.
According to Favreau, there was a special trick to making the cameo all come together. The lightsaber, the fight, the posture, the costuming – all of the little details had to be meticulously crafted, Favreau and Dave Filoni say in a recent episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. But Favreau said one of the biggest secrets to sticking the landing upon Luke’s actual reveal was the inclusion of some of John Williams’ original music – something The Mandalorian generally shies away from. Read his full quote below.
Favreau: "That's the first time in that last episode that we actually hear any music from the original trilogy. Everything up to that point had been original music by Ludwig [Göransson], and that's the first time you could hear any John Williams music. Let's never underestimate the importance of John Williams, because that's part of what makes Star Wars Star Wars. So for us to not use any of those themes and then save it for that point, it's saving a very powerful tool... all those things help sell the visual effect."
To be sure, the brief reprise of the original Star Wars theme, which plays as Luke finally pulls back his hood, is a perfect way to capitalize on all the buildup that precedes it. The shot harkens back to the beginning of the very first film, when a young Luke stares off into Tatooine’s twin sunset in a silent wish for his life to mean something important. Of course, the Mandalorian reveal wouldn’t land nearly as well if not for the perfect sequence that leads up to it, but it’s fair to say that the use of Williams’ original score is what really sells Luke Skywalker’s return.
Like any truly successful franchise, Star Wars’ popularity is due to a vast collection of different factors. Lucas’ narrative vision, Ralph McQuarrie’s stunning visual design, ILM’s groundbreaking special effects work, the chemistry of the cast, and many other pieces all had to fall into place to create the universe that has since dominated pop culture. But William’s music is perhaps as important as any other single part of Star Wars, and while other composers have done great work for the franchise in his absence, Luke's return in The Mandalorian season 2 is a great reminder of all the incredible work the composer did.
