We’ve all assumed that Mark Hamill would return as Luke Skywalker in “Old People In Space Episode 7” (or Star Wars Episode 7, if you’re into authenticity), but without a proper Disney press release, we haven’t been able to confirm the news. Well, thanks to Hamill’s fellow convention veteran buddy (and Nightmare on Elm Street Star) Robert Englund, we now have one more authoritative voice reassuring us that YES, Hamill will appear in Star Wars Episode 7. Not only that, but Mark is slimming down for the role.

While deep in conversation about an upcoming animated project, Englund commented on Hamill’s current schedule:

Mark now — they’ve got Mark in the gym, because Mark’s coming back as Luke Skywalker. They’ve got him doing his sit ups.’

As we’re all well aware, J. J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy have promised to avoid the story lines established by Star Wars books and video games. Which isn’t such a bad move, once you’ve realized that most of these side projects rely on cloned versions of The Emperor or Jedi as their main nemeses. I love me some ol’ Pappy Palpatine as much as the next brown bearded fanboy, but 4 clone resurrections is too damn high.

Still, I’d love for Luke Skywalker to ascend to the level of force mastery he exhibits in the books. More powerful than any Jedi, Luke exceeds the squandered potential of his father. The young Skywalker (who’s actually near 60 years old in the later novels) actually attains mastery of Jedi lightning, which is an emerald green variant of the typically blue energy projection which Palpatine and his Sith bro-heims wielded.

SOURCE: ComicBook.com