Last week duringStar Wars Celebration,Mark Hamillwas perhaps one of the onlyStar Warsicons who was there for all four days, whether it was hosting panels like hisCarrie Fishertribute orHamillHimself, or just signing autographs for fans. During the massiveStar Wars40th Anniversary panel that kicked off the entire weekend on Thursday, no one was surprised whenMark Hamillstopped by, but many were quite shocked whenHarrison Fordarrived, making his first appearance ever atStar WarsCelebration.Mark Hamillshared two candid photos from Celebration reuniting with his longtime friendHarrison Ford, a reunion that sadly was deprived from fans inStar Wars: The Force Awakens, along with another where he was photographed withHayden Christensenfrom the prequel trilogy.
Mark Hamillposted two slightly different versions of essentially the same photo onTwitter, with bothHarrison FordandMark Hamillseated in a backstage area at Celebration. The first photo featured both actors pointing at each other with big smiles on their faces, accompanied by the hashtag #HarrisonPointing. The second image features each actor with less exaggerated smiles, although they aren’t pointing at each other, with the hashtag #HarrisonNotPointing. Fans clearly seem to prefer the #HarrisonPointing image, which has over 21,000 retweets and 65,000 likes, while #HarrisonNotPointing has 10,000 retweets and 36,000 likes. While this image may not be culturally significant in theStar Wars canon, it serves as a painful reminder to some that these actors' beloved characters may never reunite on the big screen again.
While bothHarrison Ford’s Han Solo andMark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker were both featured inStar Wars: The Force Awakensthe iconicrogue smugglerand the aging Jedi warrior were never seen together. Han Solo got struck down by his own evil son, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), before he could see Luke Skywalker again, and we didn’t see Luke until the final moments of the film, when Rey (Daisy Ridley) found him on the island of Ahch-To, returning his lightsaber to him. WhileLuke Skywalkerwill certainly return inThe Last Jedi, in theaters this December, barring any shocking surprises,Harrison Ford’s Han Solo will not be back. However, while doing press atStar WarsCelebration,Mark Hamillspoke with Fandango, revealing that he had an idea about how such a reunion may have happened, just before Han was struck down.
“When I was reading it, I thought, if Leia’s trying to mentally contact me and she’s not successful, she’ll rush to his aid. She’ll get close to him and then get into some dire situation and that’s when I show up, save her life, we rush to Han, and then we’re in the same position that Rey, and Finn and Chewie are. Too late to save him, but we’re witnesses. It would carry so much emotional resonance going into the next film for us, his wife, his best friend, to witness, instead of characters who have known him, what, 20 minutes? Well, exceptChewie, but still, I thought that was a great missed opportunity, but as I toldJ.J.and as I toldRian, I have so many really terrible ideas I’d love to share with you. Because out of 100, maybe you’ll find one you kind of like. After the movie comes out, I’ll make a list of the most outrageous things I suggested, because I look back now and go, ‘What was I thinking?'”
A few months ago, a rumor surfaced thatStar Wars: The Last Jedimay actually feature a reunion betweenLuke Skywalker and Han Solo, although it will happen in some sort of flashback sequence. DirectorRian Johnsonis reportedly using more flashbacks than any otherStar Warsmovie before it, but none of these flashbacks have been confirmed, nor has the Luke and Han reunion. Take a look atMark Hamill’s photos, along with the actor’s brief video interview segment fromStar WarsCelebration, along with a number of fan’s reactions to the photos below.
