Mark Hamill says Star Wars 'doesn't need Luke anymore'

Star Wars fans are still recovering from the news that franchise legend Mark Hamill plans on retiring from the character of Luke Skywalker for good, with the star claiming the series “doesn’t need Luke anymore”.

Recently, there’s been a lot of speculation that Hamill would be reprising his role of Luke Skywalker in an upcoming Star Wars film centred around Daisy Ridley’s Jedi Rey, in a story about rebuilding the Jedi Order following the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

It seems this speculation has been put to rest by the man himself, as he recently spoke about his time as the character in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, where he said: “I’ve had my time … that’s enough”.

Despite the newest Disney Star Wars projects not landing well with fans, with exceptions like The Mandalorian and Andor, Hamill said he’s done with the character after believing Luke no longer has a place in future Star Wars stories.

Mark Hamill said: “Well, you never say never, but I just don’t see any reason to, let me put it that way … “I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore.”

It’s not the only iconic character he’s giving up either. Hamill has had an extensive voice acting career, with his most recognised performances coming from his work as The Joker in various Batman media, both animated shows/films as well as video games like Batman: Arkham Knight. Recently, the series suffered a heart-breaking loss when long-time Batman voice actor, Kevin Conroy, passed away, aged 66. Following the devastating loss, Hamill announced that he’d be retiring from the role of The Joker, as he just couldn’t fathom working on future projects without Conroy there.

Star Wars has several projects currently in the works, such as the upcoming Ashoka series on Disney+ which will air in August later this year. The Mandalorian Season 4 has also been confirmed, as well as three new movies. One is a prequel set long before The Phantom Menace, one is a present-day adventure and one is the aforementioned Daisy Ridley film set in the future.