The Mandalorian Fans Demand That This Actor Play Luke Skywalker
Contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian
The uncanny valley strikes back — but maybe it didn't have to. During the final moments of The Mandalorian's second season finale, we got the return of the Jedi — Luke Skywalker, that is. For any long-time Star Wars fan, the identity of the mysterious, cloaked Jedi that absolutely rips through Moff Gideon's (Giancarlo Esposito) Dark Troopers became obvious long before he revealed his technologically de-aged face. The green lightsaber is just too iconic, as is the single black glove concealing his prosthetic hand.
However, as exciting as it is to see Luke holding Grogu (the first new member of Yoda's race we've seen since Yaddle showed up in the prequel trilogy), the experience was bittersweet for a lot of people. Much like Grand Moff Tarkin and Princess Leia's appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Luke Skywalker didn't quite look like Luke Skywalker.
Indeed, Peter Cushing did not portray Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, nor was Carrie Fisher on set as Princess Leia Organa. Similarly, Luke Skywalker was not Mark Hamill on The Mandalorian, but rather another actor named Max Lloyd-Jones sporting a hokey, CGI-crafted Mark Hamill face that was digitally painted on. In most cases, fans will bemoan the use of this kind of technology to the point of wishing their favorite character did not appear at all. In the case of Luke Skywalker, however, what fans want is a recast. Those same fans have a very specific actor in mind take over last Jedi duties: Sebastian Stan.
Attack of the clones
This is not the first time people have noticed that Sebastian Stan and Mark Hamill bear a striking resemblance to one another. On May 10, 2016, @Live_for_Films tweeted a picture of Hamill as Skywalker next to a photo of Sebastian Stan's face superimposed over it, and the likeness is "uncanny" — in a good way, for once. In fact, the similarity is so clear that Hamill himself retweeted the image, adding, "5 O' CLOCK SHADOW LUKE w /Dreamboat Gaze Power- Collect 'em All!"
At Rhode Island Comic-Con in 2017, Stan was asked about the similarity between him and Hamill. He responded: "I just want to say here that anytime anyone would like to call me and ask me about Luke Skywalker, I'd be very happy." In short: fans had every reason to believe that their wish upon a star from a galaxy far, far away would come true. Hamill enjoyed the comparison, and Stan was quite obviously up for the challenge. So when instead of Stan's face they saw CGI Hamill instead, fans were displeased.
Twitter user @djesson81 did not mince words when writing, "Jesus Christ, just use Sebastian Stan for Luke rather than this janky PS3 cut seen [sic] looking version we got! Tarkin, Leia, and now this. It doesn't work. Stop it!!" User @LucciProduced was a little kinder, but made the more important point by writing, "CGI looked good for what we got but if Luke is gonna be in the show now I hope they get Sebastian Stan to play him."
Simply put: There is a limit to how long people will accept a CGI face in a live-action world. In other words, if Luke is meant to be a big part of The Mandalorian's third season, there's going to have to be a better long-term solution. Or, as @PRabbitholes put it: "Just get Sebastian Stan to be play Luke FFS they're basically clones."
The cloners on Kamino were unavailable for comment.