Star Wars star Mark Hammill didn't expect to appear in The Mandalorian at all.
While appearing on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to discuss his involvement with Kevin Smith's Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Hamill revealed that he was just as surprised by his appearance in The Mandalorian's Season 2 finale as fans were. "Talk about unexpected," Hamill said. "I had finished playing that part, I never expected to do it again. I thought if they ever told stories of Luke in that period, post the originals and pre-sequels, they'd get an actor, you know, an age-appropriate actor. So when John Favreau and Dave Filoni told me about what they wanted to do I was just stunned."
"But, one of the main things with Mandalorian is you are sworn to secrecy," Hamill said. "I can't even talk about it with my family, even now. But one thing I have to tell you though, even though I can't talk about it, there's a special coming on Disney+ on August 25, which is a making of the season finale of Season 2, which is the episode I was in so that'll answer a lot of your questions."
This special episode, titled "Making of the Season 2 Finale," will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the technology used to allow Hamill to appear as a version of Luke Skywalker only five years removed from the events of the 1983 film, Return of the Jedi. When Disney+ announced the special, the streaming service also released a photo of Max Lloyd-Jones, the actor who physically portrayed Luke on-set before he was transformed into a digital de-aged Hamill in post-production.
Hamill's cameo in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, "Episode 16: The Rescue," was also a surprise to the rest of the cast, who didn't know about his appearance until the day of filming. While the age-regressed Luke received both positive responses and criticism from Star Wars fans, Hamill himself, who has publically disapproved of Rian Johnson's interpretation of Luke in 2017's The Last Jedi, thanked "The Rescue" director Peyton Reed for allowing him to "revisit [his] character when he was still a symbol of hope & optimism."
Hamill is set to appear in Kevin Smith's animated series Masters of the Universe: Revelations as the voice of Skeletor, which premieres on Netflix July 23. While Season 3 of The Mandalorian has not yet started filming, it is expected to premiere on Dinsney+ sometime in late 2022. Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available to stream on Disney+.
Source: YouTube