It was a society of mutual admiration on Twitter like Peyton Reed, who ran The Mandalorianend of the second season of, and Star Wars icon Mark Hamill fondly reflected on their collaboration, which left the pop culture fountain bubbling on December 18th.
In the final moments of The MandalorianEnd of season 2 (read recap here) – just when it looked like the good guys who had infiltrated Moff Gideon’s light cruiser dropped dozens of strormtroopers and Rescued Grogu would be unceremoniously mowed by a platoon of Dark Troopers – a lone X-Wing appeared outside. His robed pilot boarded the cruiser, then began slicing the Dark Trooper after the Dark Trooper, using a green lightsaber wielded by a gloved hand. When this Jedi reached the bridge where Mando, the Child and others were crouched, he lifted his hood to reveal the face of a circa-Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker / Hamill.
Reed, whose past director credits include the Ant Man films, tweeted a production still of a young Hamill in the New Hope defined with Luke’s landpeeder. “When I was a child, this photo was hung on my bedroom wall. STAR WARS, and Luke Skywalker in particular, meant a lot to me. Some things never change, ”he wrote to Hamill on Friday afternoon. “It was an honor and a dream come true to work with you on @TheMandalorian. Thanks. #MTFBWY. “
Dear @HamillHimself,
When I was a child, this photo was hung on my bedroom wall. STAR WARS, and Luke Skywalker in particular, meant a lot to me.
Some things never change.
It was an honor and a dream come true to work with you on @themandalorian. Thanks. #MTFBWY pic.twitter.com/trJulIaEf6
– Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) January 15, 2021
Hamill responded on Saturday, telling Reed: “I am very grateful that I had the unexpected opportunity to revisit my character when he was still a symbol of hope and optimism. Your guaranteed direction and kindness were a crucial element in the experience and mean more to me than I can say. #Thanks.”
Hamill, of course, reprized his role as the original Star Wars Luke Skywalker from the trilogy in the third and final trio of films, although the timeline showed Luke as a grizzled, taciturn Jedi master who was reluctant to train the aspiring Rey.
Hamill had already directed his gratitude to Mandalorian executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, tweeting at the end of the year, “Sometimes the greatest gifts are the most unexpected and something you never realized you wanted until it was given. #ThankYouJonAndDave. “
As Favreau revealed shortly after the end of the season, Hamill was on set for the memorable sequel (although another actor, Max Lloyd-Jones, was credited as Luke’s stunt double). “Having Mark Hamill on the film set and us using whatever technology we had available to age it and make it look like old movies” – and kept secret – was very special, said Favreau.