In theory, great Jedis never truly die. They merely morph into “Force ghosts” and become, in the words of Sir Alec Guinness’s Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original 1977 Star Wars, “more powerful than you can ever imagine”.

And yet that is not exactly what has happened in the umpteen episodes of George Lucas’s seemingly eternal space opera that have followed since 1977. Guinness hung around to offer the odd bit of sage advice in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi, but he was never essential to the thrust of the narrative in the way he had been before Darth Vader put a lightsaber through both shoulder blades. Anakin Skywalker’s ghost has only been seen once (in two different forms) since Vader’s death, smiling nervously alongside Yoda and Obi-Wan after the Rebel Alliance’s victory at the Battle of Endor. Yoda turned up again in last year’s The Last Jedi, to the delight of fans, but seemed happy to limit himself to winding up Luke.

The announcement that Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker is to return in Star Wars: Episode IX (although it has been rather overshadowed by the news that the late Carrie Fisher’s Leia is also returning) may indicate that director JJ Abrams plans to show there is more to Force ghosts than the occasional spot of translucid back-seat driving. It needs to, because there is otherwise very little point in bringing Luke back at all after his death in The Last Jedi.

For all its faults, Rian Johnson’s movie had successfully brought Skywalker’s journey to a satisfying conclusion. After a cowardly period in which he chose to close himself off from the Force, following his failure to stop Ben Solo becoming Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Luke redeemed himself by making the ultimate sacrifice to help his friends on Crait, just when they need him the most.

It would make perfect sense for Skywalker to make a cameo as a Force ghost in Episode IX, following a similar path to his forebears. But the fact that Lucasfilm has announced Hamill so early in the production process of the final episode, suggests the actor will play a key role in events. Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), after all, was excluded from pre-release billing for The Last Jedi, and only confirmed as part of proceedings once audiences began viewing the film.

Striking back … Hamill as Skywalker in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Photograph: John Wilson/AP

Perhaps Lucasfilm and Disney are simply desperate for one last dance with the stars of the original trilogy, and yet the return of Fisher (reportedly via previously shot footage) ought to have filled that particular nostalgia bucket to the brim. The announcement of Hamill’s inclusion suggests something unusual must be afoot. Perhaps he didn’t really die on Ahch-To after all, it was a mere illusion or trick of the light, and Skywalker has been cheerfully milking those weird space-cow things ever since, having faked his death to put Ren off his scent. Except that such a scenario would be even more rubbish than yet another atmospheric Force ghost cameo.

Let’s hope Abrams does have some genuine smarts up his sleeve, for Skywalker is the last spirit Jedi we need to be seeing now. Hamill had his turn in the spotlight last time out, and the actor’s unexpected reappearance risks inspiring irritated fatigue rather than awe.

Surely the dead Jedi everyone wants to see in Episode IX is the one we’ve been waiting for ever since the vision of Vader’s crumpled, ruined helmet in the early trailers for The Force Awakens? Isn’t it time for Anakin Skywalker to turn up, and have the grandfather-to-grandson-and-evil-disciple chat that Ren so desperately needs to get him out of his First Order funk?

That could be the moment that defines the final instalment, almost as powerfully as Luke’s first encounter with Vader, and finally transforms the Force ghost from polite bystander to key player in events. For what is the point of Ren worshipping Vader as a totem of fascistic space evil if Anakin then turns up to calmly sit the bleating emo Sith-toddler down and explain that Grandaddy don’t do that mean planet-killing stuff no more?

The look on Ren’s face – the resulting Luke-like “nooooo!” – may even be worth the kidney-curdling horror of seeing Hayden Christensen return to Star Wars. Although, on second thoughts, maybe not.