Mark Hamill wants to play a "frightening" Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IX

“But you know, there's a certain sense of closure for me. JJ gave me one of the most spectacular entrances, certainly of my career, maybe in all of film history. I don't know if anybody's been talked about for two hours and then shows up for 30 seconds before the end credits roll.

“And what a spectacular exit Rian [Johnson, director of The Last Jedi] gave me!" he said, while also admitting that part of him hoped that his 'exit' could have taken place in Episode IX instead.

"'Now,' I said, 'can't we push this [Luke's death] off to Nine so I can have a beginning, a middle and an end?' Now I have a beginning and an end.

“But all things considered – especially when I thought that we would never come back at all – you know I have nothing to complain about. So whether I'm in it or not in it at all, I'm fine with Nine.”

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For our part, it seems unlikely that Abrams would lose the chance to have one of the franchise’s most famous faces turn up for the final film in the main Skywalker saga. Happily, if he does get another crack at the character, Hamill has a pretty good idea of the direction he’d like Luke to go in.

Luke’s last appearance in The Last Jedi saw him die to become one with the Force, like his father Anakin and mentors Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda (Alec Guinness and Frank Oz) before him, so a future appearance would probably have to be in the form of a ‘Force Ghost’ like those characters (most recently Yoda in The Last Jedi itself).

But even within those restrictions, Hamill reckons there are some interesting new directions for Star Wars to go in.

“Well I thought, if he's a Force Ghost I'd love to see him used in a way that hasn't been done before,” Hamill said.

“I mean let's use the word ghost! That implies that it's frightening.”

Sadly, Hamill stopped himself from giving away any more specifics at that point, opting to save his spooky Luke ideas for Abrams’ ears only.

“What if he... even in some other form, I think it'd be funny... well, I don't want to give it away,” he said.

“I do have ideas; most of them are so terrible that they don't consider them at all! But like I say, I don't know if I am going to be back,” he concluded.

“One of the things that really informs this movie is that line, ‘Forget the past; kill it if you have to.’ And so far they're doing a really great job.”

For our part, we hope JJ Abrams decides to remember the past just a little bit for episode IX. It would just seem wrong to wave goodbye to the Skywalker saga without, well, a Skywalker.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Download from 9 April, and can be pre-ordered now