Star Wars: The Force Awakens originally opened with Luke’s severed hand floating space, as confirmed by Mark Hamill himself. Ever since he portrayed the iconic Star Wars protagonist in the original 1977 film, Hamill’s name has been synonymous with Luke Skywalker. He went on to reprise the role three years later in The Empire Strikes Back, followed by the threequel, Return of the Jedi, in 1983, which capped off the beloved original trilogy.

After George Lucas’ maligned prequel trilogy that was released from 1999 to 2005, the Star Wars creator sold the franchise’s rights off to Disney in 2012. The Mouse House quickly revived the dormant series with The Force Awakens in 2015, the first film in the Skywalker Saga’s sequel trilogy. J.J. Abrams turned in one of the most well-received Star Wars movies of the Disney era, introducing plenty of new characters like Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), while also bringing back familiar faces in Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Hamill’s Luke Skywalker.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

Now, years after The Force Awakens‘ release, Hamill is confirming some details about one of the film’s scrapped scenes. Responding to the Twitter page, UberFacts, which claims Episode VII‘s original script opened with Luke’s severed hand floating through space (still holding his lightsaber), Hamill responded and confirmed that the long-standing rumor is true. Check out the tweet below:

Click here to see the original post.

See also  1000-Lb Sisters: Why Fans Think TLC Doesn't Give Amy & Tammy 'Real Help'

This scrapped scene would have, of course, been a reference to the end of Empire Strikes Back in which Luke loses his hand during a lightsaber battle with his father, Darth Vader, in Cloud City. Hamill goes on to say that, after Luke’s hand floats through space and burns away, his lightsaber “impales the surface of an unnamed planet,” which presumably would have been Takodana. Though the film never addresses it, this opening sequence could have explained how his lightsaber ends up in Maz Kanata’s chest.

Though Luke’s severed limb never got its time shine on screen, Hamill did appear briefly at the end of Force Awakens, setting up his more prominent role in Rian Johnson’s divisive follow-up, The Last Jedi. The Force Awakens fared just fine without the scrapped scene, as it grossed over $2 billion at the worldwide box office and successfully recalled the glory of the original trilogy. An opening scene showing Luke’s hand floating through space might have soiled that, as it could have come off as a cheesy nod to the one the franchise’s most iconic moments.

Source: Mark Hamill

Key Release Dates
  • Rogue Squadron (2023)Release date: Dec 22, 2023
Doctor Strange 2 Trailer Shows Scarlet Witch Attacking Illuminati Base

About The Author


Adam Bentz
(1116 Articles Published)

Adam Bentz is a movie and TV news writer for Screen Rant. From a young age, Adam has been interested in a wide range of movies and television, but it was talented auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Aaron Sorkin who ultimately sparked his interest in the craft. Motivated by his love for the screen, Adam studied creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University.

See also  The Big Bang Theory Actress Who Almost Played Amy Farrah Fowler

After graduating, Adam interned as a writer with The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization working to end extreme poverty. Other than writing for Screen Rant, Adam reviews films on his website adambentz.wordpress.com

More From Adam Bentz