Mark Hamill Breaks Silence on His Return as Young Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian
Hamill finally explains what convinced him to step back into Luke’s boots for The Mandalorian—and why the story’s missing years mattered more than anyone guessed.
Mark Hamill finally spelled out why he popped back up as Luke Skywalker on The Mandalorian, and his reasoning is very Luke, very nerdy, and kind of an inside-baseball way to frame a legacy cameo. In short: he wanted the missing middle of Luke Skywalker that the movies skipped.
Why Hamill said yes
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hamill said the original films gave Luke a clear beginning and a definitive end, but skipped the era where he is a fully formed Jedi heavy-hitter. That gap is what pulled him back in.
"The reason I did Mandalorian was that Luke had a beginning and an end. There was no middle... You never got to see Luke as a Master Jedi at the peak of his powers."
He also described Luke as the saga's most idealistic character, the guy who gets knocked down and comes back stronger, and felt we had not really seen that resilience in action post-Return of the Jedi. So when the opportunity hit, his reaction was basically: this is wonderful.
The cameo that filled the gap
Hamill returned as a de-aged Luke in The Mandalorian season 2 finale back in 2020. Luke shows up just in time to carve through a squad of Dark Troopers, bails out Din and Grogu, and then leaves with Grogu and R2-D2 so the little guy can actually train as a Jedi. It was the first on-screen look at the mythologized version of Luke fans always imagined: calm, surgical, terrifyingly competent.
The James Bond analogy (yep, really)
Hamill compared Luke's on-screen arc to making a trilogy where Bond goes from discovering MI6, to training, to earning his license to kill... and then credits roll. In other words: no classic-era adventures, no Dr. No, From Russia with Love, or Goldfinger. For Star Wars, that missing stretch is Luke at peak Jedi power. The Mandalorian gave Hamill a chance to slide one of those adventures into canon.
What is actually next for Mando and Grogu
Season 4 of The Mandalorian is still unclear, but Din Djarin and his tiny green apprentice are headed to the big screen first. Jon Favreau is directing a feature called The Mandalorian & Grogu, and the cast is stacking up.
- Title: The Mandalorian & Grogu
- Stars: Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White
- Director: Jon Favreau
- Release date: May 22, 2026 (in theaters)