Fans Debate Recast Luke Skywalker in New 'Star Wars' Series

In 1977, George Lucas launched what would become a major billion-dollar pop culture phenomenon. Now, nearly 50 years on, the Star Wars franchise–while currently in a turbulent development phase–is still gaining new content

When Star Wars debuted, it shot three actors–Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher–into superstardom. Playing Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford, and Princess Leia Organa, the trio were the central characters in Lucas’s original trilogy and later returned for Disney’s sequel trilogy, which commenced with Star Wars: Episode VII–The Force Awakens in 2015, under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy.

Disney’s sequel trilogy, even after including these original beloved characters, came under intense scrutiny, especially after the debut of Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII–The Last Jedi (2017). The divisive and lukewarm finale of the sequel trilogy, J. J. Abrams’s Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019) coincided with the launch of Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+.

Disney+’s flagship launch show was Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian TV show, which went on to secure a large fanbase. The success of The Mandalorian spawned an entirely new part of the Star Wars saga, the Mando-Verse, with other shows like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and, more recently, Skeleton Crew, expanding this New Republic era of the timeline.

Next year, the Mando-Verse will make its debut on the big screen with Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)–a movie that may or may not be replacing the fourth season of The Mandalorian.

While next year may be exciting for the Mando-Verse, Star Wars already broke new ground five years ago with The Mandalorian‘s second season. In “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker returned to the galaxy far, far away–albeit via CGI de-aging technology–to take Grogu from Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and train him in the Jedi arts.

It was monumental for the franchise and this New Republic-era Luke Skywalker reappeared in The Book of Boba Fett alongside Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano. While Luke has also existed in other media during this part of the timeline, such as Adam Christopher’s “Shadow of the Sith,” fans are wondering if the beloved Jedi (and let’s not forget, son of Darth Vader) will ever return to the live-action world in the near future.

Over on Reddit, user Ok_Relief7456 shared a post from social media site Bluesky, where someone asked if people would watch a Luke Skywalker-centric series set in the New Republic part of the timeline after Star Wars: Episode VI–Return of the Jedi (1983).

Do you agree with this “tweet”? I personally don’t.

Do you agree with this “tweet”? I personally don’t.
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The post read:

Lucasfilm, please just give us the story we actually want. Recast Luke, and make a show about the aftermath of Return of the Jedi. Every season is a year. He gathers Jedi knowledge, meets Clone Wars characters, fights sith cults, imperials, and pirates. Would you watch?

Unlike most Star Wars-related things, the community was surprisingly one-sided in their response. Some early comments were an immediate “yes” as long as the show is “done well.” Shmere4 said:

Yeah this is where the value is in the IP.

This could be a gold mine if the creative in charge knows what they are doing.

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Another comment echoed this idea of a Luke Skywalker series being a big money-maker for Lucasfilm. Suburbantroubadour said:

There are two surefire ways to print at least a billion and a half in my opinion. Luke post RTJ and Vader in his prime. Fan service be damned. We’ll ALL go watch, whether you want to admit it or not.

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A lot of the sentiments towards this idea came back to how the project would be executed, as Ruggerio5 said:

If anything is done well, I’ll watch it. Every single show they’ve done could have been good. In fact, I’d say pretty much ANY show could be good if executed in an interesting way. Of course, success only happens if the AUDIENCE finds it interesting.

I think the idea matters less than the execution. A skilled writer can take a small “boring” idea and make it into something.

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As with any time a recast Luke Skywalker project comes up in discussion, Sebastian Stan’s name wasn’t far away. The Academy Award-nominated actor of The Apprentice (2024) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he’s played Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier since 2011, has often been fan-cast as the famous Jedi character.

Stan once weighed in on these desires to see him as Luke, saying he would only consider the role if Mark Hamill himself was involved. Hamill later replied saying that he doesn’t have any say in Lucasfilm’s casting decisions.

So, while there are still no plans to have a Luke Skywalker post-ROTJ Star Wars series, there could be a chance for that boy from Tatooine who went on to save the galaxy to appear sometime in live-action once again.

When it comes to what actually is coming down the pipeline from Lucasfilm, the slate is getting more clear. After clearing up rumors of her impending retirement, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy quietly revealed that Shawn Levy’s Star Wars movie, supposedly starring A-lister Ryan Gosling, will be the next film to get produced after The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Alongside Favreau and Levy’s movies, the three projects that Kennedy announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023 are all still in development.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey Skywalker film recently gained a new writer in the form of George Nolfi, while James Mangold’s “Dawn of the Jedi” project will move forward now that the director’s work on A Complete Unknown (2024) has concluded. As for Dave Filoni, his Mando-Verse movie is still expected, however, it seems Ahsoka Season 2 will come first.

Related: Kathleen Kennedy Seemingly Reveals the End of the Skywalker Saga, New Movies Announced

Then there’s the on-and-off-again Patty Jenkins Rogue Squadron movie and the Taika Waititi project that was reported to have been scrapped but Kathleen Kennedy’s comments seemingly confirm it is still on the radar.

When it comes to streaming, next up will be Tony Gilroy’s highly anticipated second season of the critically acclaimed Andor.

The season, led by Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, will lead the characters right up to the beginning of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), and thus, into Star Wars: Episode IV–A New Hope (1977). Andor Season 2 is set to debut on Disney+ on April 22 with three episodes releasing weekly through May 13.

How do you feel about a recast Luke Skywalker appearing in his own Star Wars series? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!