Mark Hamill Teases a New Role for Luke Skywalker in the 'Last Jedi'

Farmboy and now-Jedi Master Luke Skywalker may end up being the villain of his own story. That’s what happened to his father, Anakin Skywalker, so why wouldn’t Lucasfilm continue the family tradition in Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Luke actor Mark Hamill took to Twitter on Tuesday to tease that you nerds might be right about Luke being the bad guy.

In fact, Luke might have been the bad guy all along.

Of course, everything Hamill says should usually be taken with a grain of salt; he’s a self-admitted troll who’s too fond of playing around with other trolls online. But, there’s something to be said for the way Lucasfilm has been playing up Luke’s villain potential in Last Jedi. The internet certainly noticed the way Luke is positioned on the latest poster for Last Jedi, hovering over the rest of the characters and looking vaguely menacing.

As people online have pointed out (and as Hamill poked fun at in his tweet), the villains in Star Wars posters are generally the ones looming in the background. Typically, this spot is meant for Darth Vader.

“NEWS FLASH for all you ‘Villains Looming at the Back of Posters’ theorists: Luke was ALWAYS the villain! (from a certain point of view),” Hamill tweeted alongside a collection of “villain looming in the background” Star Wars posters and an out-there explanation about why Luke has always been the villain.

“The story of an orphaned boy who becomes radicalized after a military strike kills his family,” the explanation in the picture Hamill tweeted says. “He is indoctrinated into an ancient religion, joins a bank of rebel insurgents, and carries out a terrorist attack killing 300,000 people.”

Others online have also pointed out that the setup of the latest poster looks a lot like Darth Vader’s mask, indicating that he still has an intense influence over the comings and goings of the latest story. That seems fair since it’s admittedly hard to shake one of the greatest, most iconic cinematic villains of all time. Kylo Ren, Vader’s grandson and Luke’s nephew, was introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a kind of inheritor to the Vader mantle.

But what if the title really belongs to Luke?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15.

If you liked this article, check out this video on three reasons why Luke will turn to the Dark side in The Last Jedi.