Mark Hamill Is Ready to Stop Playing Luke Skywalker: ‘I Had My Time’

Mark Hamill feels that his time playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise is over and is ready to cast his lightsaber aside for good.

In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Hamill reflected on his time as Luke, spanning back to his first appearance in 1977’s A New Hope and his recent reprisal in the sequel trilogy, capped off with 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, and admitted he is now ready to step away from the role.

“I had my time, and that’s good. But that’s enough,” he said, though the interviewer pressed further on whether he could return. “Well, you never say never. I just don’t see any reason to. Let me put it that way: I mean, they have so many stories to tell, they don’t need Luke anymore.”

Shortly after the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the veteran actor penned a heartfelt letter to fans thanking them for their devotion to the Skywalker saga and the Star Wars universe, noting how it will “continue to grow with new storytellers building an even bigger galaxy.”

However, Hamill later starred as a digitally de-aged Luke in two Star Wars Disney+ series, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, as the franchise pivoted to episodic storytelling. That side continues to expand, with The Acolyte, Skeleton Crew, and Ahsoka still to come.

Lucasfilm and Disney also recently announced three new live-action Star Wars movies after a multiyear absence from the big screen, though we shouldn’t expect them any time soon as Kathleen Kennedy is keen for these future theatrical releases to be James Bond-like events.

While a release window for the next Star Wars movie is unknown, there’s a lot coming up. James Mangold is creating a film about the dawn of the Jedi, Dave Filoni is focusing on the New Republic era, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is directing a movie centered around Daisy Ridley’s Rey.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.