Since last month, several "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" teaser clips have already been released online, yet, not one of them offers a glimpse of one of the franchise's most beloved characters—Luke Skywalker. In the official trailer, viewers got a glimpse of original characters Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), but the there was no sign of Mark Hamill as the iconic character.
Director J.J. Abrams was recently asked by the Sydney Morning Herald why Luke was not in the trailer, and he responded, "These are good questions to be asking. I can't wait for you to find out the answers."
In a recent interview with Empire magazine (via Slashfilm), Hamill gave an update on the status of Luke Skywalker, and the actor said that when fans see the character, he will be "very different" from the Luke that they knew from the first "Star Wars" movie, "A New Hope," or even from the last film where the character was seen, "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi."
"Obviously you're seeing him in a very different time in his life," said Hamill to the magazine. "There are lots of surprises in this movie. You're going to love it."
It has been reported that "The Force Awakens" takes place approximately 30 years after the events of "Return of the Jedi" and will include new characters as well as characters from the original trilogy. There have been rumors that the upcoming film will see Han Solo and Princess Leia searching for Luke, and while Hamill did not give away any details about the film's plot, he shared a story about filming episode 7 on Skellig Michael in Ireland, saying that he felt like he was "in a galaxy, far, far away."
Meanwhile, in an interview with Howard Stern this week, Abrams explained why he did not want to talk about Luke's absence ahead of the film's release.
"I really want to make sure that we're not ruining the movie for people," he said. "I'd rather be asking questions than feel like they'd been answered for me."
And while it was also rumored that Luke will meet his demise in "The Force Awakens," Hamill's tweet on Nov. 22 appears to confirm that his character will be back for Episode 8.
"Last shaved on 10/22 after final day of my 2nd #TheFlash (which airs 12/8 #XmasTrix), just in time for Ep VIII- whew!" he wrote.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" premieres on Dec. 18.
