Becoming one of the most successful franchises in history, Star Wars has a mixed bag of films and shows on its list. Originally starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher as the main protagonist, the universe went on to expand into many interesting characters including Kyle Katarn.
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The franchise was renewed with sequels in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and directed by J.J. Abrams. The movie was received with mixed reactions from fans and was criticized for being too similar to the first movie, Star Wars: A New Hope.
Fan reaction to Last Jedi
The director was changed to Rian Johnson in the second installment in the sequels, called The Last Jedi. Seeing a far bigger cast and the return of Mark Hamill to the Star Wars franchise, the movie was expected to fare better, but fans hated it even more.
The treatment of Luke Skywalker was criticized more than anything else, as many fans felt the character was ruined. The director recently defended the portrayal of Luke Skywalker again, stating he wanted to strip away the myth of the character.
Rian Johnson’s struggle with Mark Hamill
The director described the difficulty he faced while explaining Mark Hamill his choices for Luke Skywalker in the latest issue of Empire Magazine. Rian Johnson wanted to show Luke as a broken man who no longer taps into the Force as he had lost hope.
The director further admitted that there’s no way he could understand Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher’s feelings, considering they’ve lived with this character all their life. He also realized it was difficult to approach them and thrust the changes upon them, he said:
“….what it’s like to play them first in their twenties, and then to come back and play them in these movies and have a script handed to you saying, ‘Well, it’s this now’… I can never fathom what that experience is like. It’s impossible.”
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The director has been defending his decisions related to Luke Skywalker for some time now. Commenting on the same he described how he would argue with Mark Hamill to get his vision made, as he believed “he’s Mark Hamill, he’s not literally Luke Skywalker.”
Source: Screen Rant
