Mark Hamill has revealed elements of the ending for George Lucas' abandoned Star Wars: Episode 9.

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Star Wars The Last Jedi Deleted Scenes 17 IMAGES

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Speaking to IGN about the differences in approach to the character of Luke Skywalker between J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson, Hamill suddenly changed tack, and explained:"I happen to know that George didn't kill Luke until the end of [Episode] 9, after he trained Leia. Which is another thread that was never played upon [in The Last Jedi]."This is the first time we've heard that Lucas intended to end the 'Skywalker Saga' with Luke's death. While the original Extended Universe saw Leia trained as a Jedi Knight (although not by Luke), it also hadn't been publicly mooted as part of the films' storyline.Similarities remain in The Last Jedi – Luke seems to have met his end a film earlier than Lucas planned for, and Leia does (somewhat controversially) show her skill with the Force – but it's clear that Lucas had different plans for the returning characters.It's not quite clear which of Lucas' Episode 9s this particular ending comes from. The Star Wars creator's plans for a sequel trilogy were many and varied – before Disney bought the rights and made one itself.Before Return of the Jedi had been written, Hamill said he had seen 12-page outlines for each of Lucas' Episodes 7-9. However, Lucas seemingly abandoned the idea, and incorporated many elements – including the idea that Luke had an estranged sister – into Jedi instead.Lucas continued to hint at his ideas for a sequel trilogy over the years, from the familiar (Luke, Leia and Han returning as characters later in their lives) to the less familiar (a fractured Empire has devolved into individual tyrannical worlds). However, the critical reception to his prequel trilogy apparently all-but killed off Lucas' drive to continue with the series for some time.Many of the suggested story ideas are seemingly contradictory, indicating that Lucas never had a set plan. Pre-Disney takeover, Hamill had said that Lucas' idea was to have Luke returning for a cameo in Lucas' Episode 9, but his new comments seem to indicate a much more central role.That perhaps points to this idea of Luke training Leia before his death being part of a newer plan. Lucas did indeed write a new treatment for a sequel trilogy as the series transitioned into becoming a Disney property , but Kathleen Kennedy scrapped the majority of his ideas in favour of J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan's Force Awakens script, and the direction that took the new films. It may be that Hamill's new comments refer to this later treatment.Recently, Rey actress Daisy Ridley revealed that J.J. Abrams had himself written treatments for a full sequel trilogy , but that Rian Johnson had used little of it for The Last Jedi. Hamill says he doesn't know whether Abrams plans to use his original ideas now that he's returning to direct Episode 9.More generally, Hamill compared the approaches between Lucas and Disney's Star Wars films:"George had an overall arc – if he didn't have all the details, he had sort of an overall feel for where the [sequel trilogy was] going – but this one's more like a relay race. You run and hand the torch off to the next guy, he picks it up and goes."Ryan didn't write what happens in 9 – he was going to hand it off to, originally, Colin Trevorrow and now J.J. [...] It's an ever-evolving, living, breathing thing. Whoever's onboard gets to play with the life-size action figures that we all are."Hamill remains unsure about whether he'll be returning in some form for Episode 9 – "No one's really talked to me about it" – but he isn't holding back his opinions on where Star Wars should go. Some of those opinions are more outlandish than others, like the Force Ghost horror movie he told us he wants to see

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he has seen a lot of pictures of Carrie Fisher with lightsabers in preparation for this story. It was good to research. Follow him on Twitter