When Jason posted his discussion of the fan argument over whether it’s Mark Hamill or Domhnall Gleeson narrating the newest trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one thing he didn’t mention was that he and I spent far too much time trying to figure this out. I cued up the original scene from Return of the Jedi, I did a rough waveform comparison, I listened to Gleeson speaking, and I just was not sure. Thankfully, J.J. Abrams and Mark Hamill have confirmed what happened… and basically they were screwing with us.
According to Business Insider, Hamill rerecorded the speech and then his new version was used as reverb on the original lines. So, whether or not Luke has gotten any in the intervening 30 years remains an argument among fans.
It does, however, not answer the fundamental question: Why this speech? Just as a reminder, this is what’s said:
The Force is strong in my family, my father has it, I have it, my sister has it. You have that power, too.
This isn’t exactly a seminal moment in Star Wars; I admit that it took a couple of viewings of the trailer before I remembered it was from Return of the Jedi. It makes for an interesting overlay, especially with echoes of older Luke worked in.
Nothing Abrams does is by accident, so one has to assume this has some relevance to The Force Awakens. It’s worth noting that, in addition to the rumors that Gleeson plays the son of Skywalker, John Boyega is rumored to be handy with a lightsaber himself. Not to mention Luke’s first lightsaber turns up in the trailer. So one way or the other, Luke’s past plays a role in this movie. We’ll just have to wait for December to see how.
