During the climactic finale of The Mandalorian season two, Star Wars icon Mark Hamill made a surprise appearance as a young Luke Skywalker. While the fan reactions to Hamill's brief but memorable return to the franchise were appreciated by the actor, it was praise from The Mandalorian star Ming-Na Wen that rendered him speechless.
After the titular Mandalorian and his cohorts, including Wen's Fennec Shand, successfully apprehended Moff Gideon and took command of his cruiser, the band of heroes found themselves surrounded by an army of Dark Troopers. Fortunately, Hamill's Skywalker arrived just in time to easily dispose of the droids and rescued our heroes after having received the signal sent by Grogu earlier in the season.
A few weeks after the finale of The Mandalorian season two debuted on Disney+, Hamill responded to a compilation video in which fans reacted to Skywalker's appearance. In a post on his official Twitter account, Hamill wrote that he will cherish the reactions to Skywalker's return and was moved by the response. On that same day, Wen quote tweeted Hamill to express how sharing a scene with him in The Mandalorian was one of the biggest highlights of her life on account of the impact both he and Skywalker had on her during childhood and her adult years. Hamill, in turn, returned the compliments to Wen, writing in his own post, "I'm literally speechless, other than to say: the pleasure was all mine @MingNa."
Wen will reprise her role as Fennech Shand in Disney and Lucasfilm's The Book of Boba Fett, a standalone series centered on the continuing adventures of the titular bounty hunter portrayed by Temuera Morrison. The new series was set up in the post-credits scene of The Mandalorian's second season finale, in which Fett returns to Tatooine and assumes control of the palace previously inhabited by Jabba the Hutt. The Book of Boba Fett is currently scheduled to premiere on Disney+ in December 2021, before the third season of The Mandalorian debuts.
The positive reactions to Hamill's triumphant return to the Star Wars franchise are hardly surprising considering how many fans were disappointed by the character's role in The Last Jedi. While not everyone disagreed with director Rian Johnson's choice to depict Skywalker as a disillusioned and self-exiled Jedi, most agreed that Hamill's appearance in The Mandalorian offered the beacon of hope some fans had hoped to see in the sequel trilogy but were mostly denied.
Of course, many were thrilled by the unexpected portrayal of Skywalker in The Last Jedi and praised the character's storyline as one of several refreshing elements featured in Johnson's film. Unfortunately for those fans, there has been little word on the status of Johnson's new Star Wars trilogy since the project was first announced.
The Mandalorian is now available on Disney+.
Source: Mark Hamill|Twitter