Mark Hamill on his problem with Luke in “The Last Jedi": “Part of me said to Rian [Johnson], ‘but you know, a Jedi would never give up’”

The main problem that Star Wars fans had with "The Last Jedi" was how such a heroic and cheerful figure like Luke Skywalker could turn out, years later, to be the doom and gloom character written in "Jedi" by director Rian Johnson.

There’s just such a huge gap between ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘Force Awakens’ – I had to really contemplate that,” Mark Hamill said in a new interview with IGN. “I said ‘hey, how did I go from being the most optimistic, positive character to this cranky, suicidal man who wants people to get off his island?’”

“It was a radical change, but I think sometimes being pushed out of your comfort zone is a good thing […] Although a part of me said to Rian, ‘but you know, a Jedi would never give up’. My concept of the character was that even if I chose the New Hitler thinking he was the New Hope, yeah I’d feel terrible, but I wouldn’t secret myself on an island and then turn off the Force,” he continued.

Alas, this doesn't seem to be a topic that will ever go away. It'll be part of Star Wars lore as an important moment that defined where the series was about to go. It's the moment where the millions of fans that prayed at the altar of Star Wars, lost their fate.