Mark Hamill has responded to the idea popular among Star Wars fans that Sebastian Stan should be cast as a young Luke Skywalker. The resemblance between the two actors has always been striking, and the idea that Stan could potentially step in to future Star Wars projects as a young Luke has even been brought up recently to Stan multiple times in press interviews for The Falcon & The Winter Soldier. Finally, Hamill has responded to the recent casting rumors with his take on the matter.
In the tear-jerker The Mandalorian season 2 finale, a young Luke Skywalker makes an appearance in CGI form to take Grogu to provide him with proper training. Though a surprising (and heartwarming) creative choice, Luke's CGI appearance was met with some criticism, as many fans were upset that they did not cast an actor who bears a resemblance to Hamill such as Stan. In a recent interview with Good Morning America, Stan was directly asked if he would ever be up to carrying out the fan's wishes, to which he responded "Well, if Mark Hamill calls me personally to tell me that he feels inclined to share this role with me, then I'll believe it, until then I won't believe it."
In typical Mark Hamill fashion, the 69-year-old actor took to Twitter to respond in a sassy, indirect way. Quoting a tweet about Stan's statement, Hamill reminded the world that he, unfortunately, has no say in the matter.
Luke's controversial appearance in The Mandalorian is not where the fancast of Sebastian Stan as young Luke began. When Stan was asked the same question in 2017, he responded "I just want to say here that anytime anyone would like to call me and ask me about Luke Skywalker, I'd be very happy". Although Hamill revealed in the tweet that he is distanced from Lucasfilm casting, he has always been open minded about young Luke fancasts including Stan and other actors as well, such as the much younger Jacob Tremblay.
Opposing opinions say that recasting iconic faces is a bad creative decision because capturing the essence of the characters can be considered impossible. A lot of criticism following the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story stemmed from audiences not buying Alden Ehrenreich's young Han Solo. However, with upcoming releases of Star Wars projects such as Rogue Squadron and The Mandalorian season 3, a reappearance of young Luke to follow up his cameo is not completely out of the question. Casting an actor to fill the role rather than using CGI again will allow the character to make a more legitimate, performative appearance. If Lucasfilm chooses to revisit the character once more, fans can at least rest assured that their opinion as to who should play him have been heard.
Next: The Mandalorian: Luke Taking Baby Yoda Is Not A Plot-Hole (It’s A Fix)
Source: Mark Hamill/Twitter