One of the big questions in the run-up to The Force Awakens (other than “WHEN CAN I SEE IT?”) centers on Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, who is back for the Star Wars sequel, but not pictured in any of the film’s promotional materials. This has led, among other speculation, to a whole fan theory built around the idea that Luke is evil now, an idea Hamill may have pitched to Abrams himself in a 2005 Dinner for Five episode. Anyway, in a recent interview with Empire (via Slashfilm) it seems that Hamill may have slipped a few hints past Abrams’s Trade Federation–like embargo on spoilers. “There are lots of surprises in this movie. You’re going to love it,” Hamill said, which, so far, is the company line, but then, while elaborating on his memory of shooting the film, he revealed he had some time to think on set: “It reminded me of when I was in Tunisia on the salt flats. If you could get into your own mind and shut out the crew and look at the horizon, you really felt like you were in a galaxy far, far away. I had that same wave of emotion happen to me when I was on Skellig Michael in Ireland. I wasn’t anticipating it.”
To any ordinary human, these might sound like the typical musings of someone alone on set, but to a Star Wars fanatic that resemblance is very important: Has Luke Skywalker retired Yoda-like to his own secluded Dagobah? Or does Mark Hamill merely want you to know his thoughts on the mystery that is the individual being juxtaposed against the universe? Are those one in the same? Is all meaning achieved in isolation a spoiler — a profundity about the cloistered soul that dissolves like a snowflake when shared?
The Force Awakens hits theaters December 18.
