Much like his Luke Skywalker character in the “Star Wars” films, actor Mark Hamill has evolved quite a bit over the years. For fans, he’s an untouchable icon that not only helped create one of the greatest movie franchises of all time, but also the actor that went on to do a number of other fandom-centric projects, including voicing the Joker in various ‘Batman’ cartoons. But over the last 18 months, Hamill’s most recent evolution seems to be as one of the preeminent social media trolls.
And no, we don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way. Clearly, through his tweets and interviews, the actor is really trying to have fun with fandom and just enjoys the hell out of poking the bear, so to speak. But like any good troll, there seems to be a bit of truth in his jabs. This can be seen most clearly when he talks about the new “Star Wars” trilogy like he did in his most recent troll-ish tweet about the galaxy far, far away.
Recently, we reported that Hamill said that he pitched a different take on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” that would have drastically altered the film. In his pitch, Hamill said that he would have brought back the original three stars (himself, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford) one more time, giving them a reunion that the new films actually never let happen. The actor called it a “missed opportunity.”
Well, Hamill decided to take the term and turn it into a hashtag in his tweet where he posted a photoshopped picture of Fisher, Ford, Billy Dee Williams (who returns in the upcoming ‘Rise of Skywalker‘), and himself aboard the Millennium Falcon. The caption? Simply “#MissedOpportunity.” You can’t get much troll-ier than that.
As mentioned above, this is far from the first time that Hamill has done this sort of criticism of the new trilogy of “Star Wars” films. Over the last year and a half, the actor has never minced words about his dislike for Luke’s characterization, the deviation from George Lucas’ original plans, and various other topics. We’re not talking about two or three instances. There are plenty of times that Hamill has offered up his less-than-complimentary thoughts on the franchise’s new direction.
But complaining about something doesn’t make you a complete troll. There has to be a layer of truth, doused in a healthy amount of humor to be a decent troll. And that’s where Hamill has been shining as of late, especially with the new tweet.
Now, before “Star Wars” fans get really upset with our characterization of the actor as a “troll,” keep in mind that Hamill readily admits this moniker. In a recent interview with Seth Meyers, he not only accepts the label but relishes it.
Hamill said, “[‘Rise of Skywalker’] comes out in December so I only have eight months of trolling left. I love to tease the fans online, it drives them crazy. I’m sure Disney’s not that happy about it but what are they gonna do? Fire me?”
He’s not wrong. At this point, he’s pretty much bulletproof. So, it appears that we have plenty of Mark Hamill tweets ahead of us before the December 20 release of ‘Rise of Skywalker.’
https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/1121835018282627073
