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Credit: LucasfilmWhen 25-year-old Mark Hamill was cast in George Lucas’s Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977), he could never have imagined what the Star Wars franchise would become. Alongside Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa) and Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Hamill skyrocketed to stardom, ultimately turning into a pop culture icon.
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Hamill has played the role of Luke Skywalker for over 40 years, most recently appearing in Disney’s sequel trilogy, primarily in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017), though he also made cameos in both Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) and Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Then, in December 2020, the iconic Jedi Knight triumphantly returned to the Star Wars story in The Mandalorian Season 2 finale episode (“Chapter 16: The Rescue”). Skywalker swooped in with his X-wing to to rescue titular bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Grogu (AKA “Baby Yoda”), Cara Dune (Gina Carano), Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Koska Reeves (Sasha Banks), and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) from certain doom onboard Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) Imperial starcruiser.
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The catch? Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s hit series takes place about five years after Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), meaning a body double and CGI technology were used to bring young Hamill back to life, in a way.
Then, Skywalker — by way of actor Graham Hamilton — returned again in Mandalorian spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett. Although the Jedi Master gave his young Padawan, Grogu, a choice and the child ultimately opted to return to his life with Djarin, it seems that Skywalker’s time in the “Mando-Verse” is far from over.
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Hamill’s involvement in future Star Wars projects, however, has not been confirmed by The Walt Disney Company or Lucasfilm. And, now, the What We Do In the Shadows actor is onto a new adventure with Netflix.
Per one new report:
…Hamill has been cast as Mervyn Pumpkinhead in the feverishly anticipated Sandman series from Netflix. This is the latest casting reveal for the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s highly influential fantasy comic book series, and was announced as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week. The five-day virtual event served to drive up excitement for any number of upcoming projects, but the announcement that Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself, would be voicing one of The Sandman’s weirder (and funniest) characters is a pretty big one.
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The former streaming king has been struggling of late, losing hundreds of thousands of subscribers and even dealing with a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders. It is hoped that highly-anticipated projects like The Sandman, Stranger Things Season 4 — which is currently airing — and NC-17 rated Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde, will help the streaming platform regain some footing.
Related: ‘Star Wars’ Legend Harrison Ford Signs On For First-Ever TV Series
Hamill is also involved in Netflix’s Edgar Allan Poe-inspired The Fall of the House of Usher miniseries, which is currently in production.
Are you excited for Mark Hamill’s upcoming projects with Netflix?