Bless Mark Hamill. The actor has been pretty great the last few years as Star Wars fever ramped up again but a poorly-worded answer at a recent event might have caused a minor fan storm.
Seriously, though. Hamill has always been great but recently we've seen him surprising fans at a charity event in Stormtrooper armor, being carried on the back of Daisy Ridley in a recreation of his time with Yoda, and accepting the visual comparison of his younger self with Marvel's Sebastian Stan.
But I digress. Den of Geek reported on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens' actor's contentious words at a charity event for The Big Issue, a magazine sold by the long-term unemployed and the homeless. They write, “Earning an income is the first step on the journey away from poverty and The Big Issue Foundation, a registered charity, exists to link vendors with vital support and services.”
A Den of Geek reader was actually at the event and let the site know Hamill said, “I finish Episode VIII, and then I”m out of work.” Many immediately took that to mean he would not be in Episode IX and, perhaps worst of all, that it meant Luke Skywalker was going to go the way of Han Solo.
Once it got to The Hollywood Reporter however, it got Hamill's attention.
I meant “out of work” because #Ep8 is wrapping soon, OK? #DontOverThinkEVERYTHING #ParsingHamill #WaitForVIII https://t.co/5CIJ5Gqo99
– Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) June 27, 2016
You may breathe a sigh of relief but as /Film notes, “Hamill hasn”t debunked the implication that Luke Skywalker could die, just clarified that he wasn”t making that implication with his statement.” Eep!
I mean, regardless, we could all do to take a deep breath before freaking out about this kind of thing, but then again, we're nerds. This is what we do. On the other hand, I don't think he'd accidentally let something like this slip (or do it on purpose like Rogue One's Mads Mikkelsen). Hamill, you should know by now to choose your words more carefully.