Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has promised over and over that this December’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be “the end of the Skywalker saga,” and that presumably means it will be the last we see of Mark Hamill‘s Luke Skywalker. In a new interview, the actor expresses his desire to hang up his Jedi robes for good and retire from the Star Wars universe after this movie, while also confirming that he’ll be appearing as a Force ghost in The Rise of Skywalker.



Even though Luke Skywalker died in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we’ve known for months that Mark Hamill is a part of returning director J.J. Abrams‘s cast in the upcoming sequel. But fans have wondered if his appearance would be in the form of a Force ghost or if he’d be appearing in the flesh during flashbacks, and now Hamill seems to have definitively answered that question:

For those who aren’t able to watch the video, here’s a transcription:

Is this really going to be your last Star Wars appearance? I sure hope so. (laughs) Why? Well, because…I had closure in the last one. The fact that I’m involved in any capacity is only because of that peculiar aspect of the Star Wars mythology where if you’re a Jedi, you get to come back and make a curtain call as a Force ghost.

Star Wars has been a part of Hamill’s life for more than 40 years, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not actually done for good when the credits on this film roll. I can easily picture him lending his voice to an animated short film or popping up again in some other supporting capacity outside of the movies. But if we take him at his word here, he’s willing to walk away from it all and close the book on that chapter of his life. That’ll be a true end of an era for old school Star Wars fans, but perhaps a necessary one as the franchise begins to stretch its wings and move beyond this one familial storyline that’s been at the center of it for decades on end.

Will The Rise of Skywalker provide the conclusive ending Abrams has been hinting at? Will there be any room left for the ghost of Luke Skywalker to appear again on screen, or will the film find a way to let all the Jedi Force ghosts finally head off to that magnificent Jedi Temple in the sky without the burden of being around and paying attention to the goings-on in a galaxy far, far away? We’ll find out when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters on December 20, 2019.