Posted in: Movies | Tagged: disney, lucasfilm, Luke Skywalker, mark hamill, star wars, star wars: the last jedi

Mark Hamill Denies Disney Made Him Walk Back Last Jedi Criticism

Published Sat, 30 Dec 2017 18:38:44 -0600

Star Wars: The Last Jedi star Mark Hamill has denied accusations that someone at Disney or Lucasfilm made him walk back criticism of Luke Skywalker's character in the movie. Hamill took to Twitter to set the record straight once and for all (this time, until the next time):

I'm really enjoying the conversations about #TheLastJedi both Pro AND Con. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion-but let me make one thing perfectly clear: Neither @Disney or #Lucasfilm has complained or told me what to say- EVER. #PeriodEndOfStory ❤️-mh

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 29, 2017

Hamill described his initial skepticism about Luke Skywalker's portrayal in the film, saying in an interview, "He's not my Luke Skywalker. I said to [director] Rian [Johnson], I said 'Jedis don't give up.' I mean, even if he had a problem, he would maybe take a year to try and regroup, but if he made a mistake he would try and right that wrong, so right there, we had a fundamental difference."

However, Hamill ended his criticism by saying, "I came to really believe that Rian was the exact man that they needed for this job."

Anyone reading or hearing the quotes in context, honestly without a predetermined agenda, could see that he was describing his initial reaction to the role, not to the finished product, which he's repeatedly complimented. But Hamill's quotes had been taken out of context by fans who view the movie's success or failure as a battle in an ongoing shadow war for the soul of cinema playing out on the battlefield of critical reviews and the Rotten Tomatoes website. The prize for the victor: a Zack Snyder cut of Justice League, we imagine.

In response to that, Hamill tweeted last week:

I regret voicing my doubts & insecurities in public.Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private. All I wanted was to make good movie. I got more than that- @rianjohnson made an all-time GREAT one! #HumbledHamill https://t.co/8ujJfBuEdV

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 26, 2017

And that led to complaints that Hamill was being censored by the studio, which led to this latest tweet denying that. What will Hamill have to tweet to try to shut down angry Star Wars fans next? Because despite Hamill's claim that this tweet would be #PeriodEndOfStory, we're sure that some will take it as yet more evidence of a conspiracy to prop up Star Wars and destroy the DCEU. This kind of ridiculous nonsense is the sort of thing that could make a person want to move to a secluded planet, give up Jedi-ing, and spitefully drink milk fresh-squeezed from the teat of some kind of space-Walrus.

Which, now that we think about it, does sound pretty good.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to cross the billion dollar worldwide threshold before the end of the year and claim the top spot at the domestic box office for 2017. It's still in theaters, so go ahead and go see it again!