MostStar Warsfans with a Twitter account very likely followMark Hamill, not only because he is Luke Skywalker, but because he is endlessly entertaining. Not only is he very active, but he is downright hilarious and friendly with the fanbase. Aside from that, he is also pretty good at dropping hints about future projects, likeStar Wars: Episode VIIIby saying almost nothing at all, or straight up messing with people. It looks like we may have just gotten another one of those hints.
Hamilltook to hisTwitteraccount over the 4th of July weekend to post a photo of himself readingJeffrey Brown’sStar Warsinspired kids book,Darth Vader and Son. Someone was kind enough to sendHamillthe deluxe box set for the book and he wanted to thank them, but didn’t have the person’s name, so this was his way of reaching out. He is completely hiding his face, except for his eyes with the book, and there may very well be a good reason for that. It looks like he has already shaved off hisJedi beard.
It was recently revealed byHamill, also on Twitter, that production onStar Wars 8is set to wrap production on July 22. That means there is a little more than two weeks left of shooting forRian Johnson’s follow up toJ.J. Abrams’The Force Awakens. The shaving of the beard is relatively significant in that it does truly signify that production is nearing an end, and thatHamillcould very well be mostly done with his work on the movie. It is also possible that he will have to shoot some scenes without the beard, and they saved those for the end of production, and that is why he shaved it now. Either way, it means we are getting that much closer toEpisode VIIIbecoming a real thing.
Mark Hamillpretty famously had literallyno dialogueinThe Force Awakensand was only onscreen for a hot second at the very end of the movie. His character ark has led him to being something of a hermit, and as such, shaving didn’t appear to be a priority for Luke, and he was sporting a very impressive Jedi beard at the end of the movie. We know thatJohnsonfilmed a chunk ofEpisode VIIIon Skellig Island in Ireland, where the last scene inThe Force Awakenswas filmed. So it seems likely thatEpisode VIIIwill pick up right whereEpisode VIIleft off, thus,Hamillhad to rock a beard. So, the fact that it looks to be shaved now is telling.
Over the course of filming forStar Wars Episode VIII,Hamillhas joked a lot about the saga of his beard and that he was very much looking forward to shaving it. As withRogue One, it is very likely thatEpisode VIIIwill undergo reshoots at some point, so he will likely have to grow it back at one point when the reshoots get scheduled.Star Wars Episode VIIIis scheduled for release onDecember 15, 2017. Be sure to check outHamill’s Tweets below.
