Mark Hamill Dies In 1977.

Exactly what it says on the tin. Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker, was in a fairly bad car accident on January 11th 1977. What if that accident had been worse, and Hamill had died? Now there's a good chance that Star Wars is still released, given that the vast majority of shots with Luke in them had already been shot and that those that weren't were shot with doubles anyway. However, Hamill's death could always put a wrench into the production, the emotional impact on everyone could lead to a much more poorly edited work etc. But there's at least the possibility that Star Wars is still released, and that it's still the huge hit it was historically, albeit with an end credit dedicating the film to Hamill. If that's the case, if Star Wars is a huge hit, but Luke Skywalker is dead, what happens. How does Star Wars being a stand alone film affect cinematic history?
 
Exactly what it says on the tin. Mark Hamill, best known for playing Luke Skywalker, was in a fairly bad car accident on January 11th 1977. What if that accident had been worse, and Hamill had died? Now there's a good chance that Star Wars is still released, given that the vast majority of shots with Luke in them had already been shot and that those that weren't were shot with doubles anyway. However, Hamill's death could always put a wrench into the production, the emotional impact on everyone could lead to a much more poorly edited work etc. But there's at least the possibility that Star Wars is still released, and that it's still the huge hit it was historically, albeit with an end credit dedicating the film to Hamill. If that's the case, if Star Wars is a huge hit, but Luke Skywalker is dead, what happens. How does Star Wars being a stand alone film affect cinematic history?

To hell with Star Wars. No Mark Hamill means no Joker!!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

That's too horrible to even think of! True, Hamill retired from voicing him, but what we do have is some of the best out there.
 
To hell with Star Wars. No Mark Hamill means no Joker!!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

That's too horrible to even think of! True, Hamill retired from voicing him, but what we do have is some of the best out there.

Well the character will still be in that show assuming butterflies don't prevent it from ever happening, even if Hamill won't be voicing him, and to be fair, he wasn't originally cast in that role anyway. Originally, it was supposed to be Tim Currey.
 
Lucas needs money, so the option is pretty clear - more Star Wars, more money.

Ergo, there will be more Star Wars, with or without Hamill. How Lucas decides to get around this is up to anyone. I could see Leia or Han becoming a main character, or Luke being recasted, or some other crazy shenanigans, but you can bet that Lucas is going to make money, actor continuity be damned.
 
Lucas may have to do a quick rewrite/reshoot to either introduce another male character who would have a minor role in the first Star Wars and who returns in the sequel and is revealed to be Luke's brother. Or more simply recast the role.

Remember that scene on Hoth where Luke was mauled by the Wompa and had to go into that tank for treatment? IIRC Luke looked kind of beat up in that hospital bed. I read somewhere that entire sequence was written to account for how Luke appears different from the first film being that Hamill was in the accident.

If Hamill had died, Luke could've been shown in Empire wearing full arctic gear that covers his face, he gets attacked by the Wompa and undergoes surgery with someone commenting on Luke needing reconstructive surgery done to his face which when revealed is another actor replacing Hamill.
 

JoeMulk

Banned
Lucas needs money, so the option is pretty clear - more Star Wars, more money.

Ergo, there will be more Star Wars, with or without Hamill. How Lucas decides to get around this is up to anyone. I could see Leia or Han becoming a main character, or Luke being recasted, or some other crazy shenanigans, but you can bet that Lucas is going to make money, actor continuity be damned.

Maybe he is recast with Michael J Fox.
 
Maybe Luke is killed in the begining of ESB and the Jedi replacing him is his sister Leia. Ben sends Leia to Degubah.
 
My guess is, Star Wars is still a hit. A sequal likely happens, the only question is, do they re-cast Luke, or kill him off "off-screen"? My guess is that they do re-cast him. But who would play him?
 
Maybe Luke is killed in the begining of ESB and the Jedi replacing him is his sister Leia. Ben sends Leia to Degubah.

Having a female as the main hero would be an interesting twist in the saga. While its true there have been female heroes in the SW saga (mainly the EU), I wonder what the reaction would be, especially in 1980 when most action heroes were male.
 
It's a VERY different science-fiction world and darker, way more serious, but Alien point that it could be well taken finally.. and Alien was made in 79, no?

Now, lucas isn't the best characters writters, however...
 
If Hamill is killed then Lucas could just set the Empire Strikes back 10 years in the future so that a different looking Luke Skywalker could be explained away in one line.

In the original I think Luke was supposed to be in his late teens so changing the actor from teen to 30 something adult is normal in movies.

Superman did it when the actor who played him in his late teens went to the North Pole and returned as Christopher Reeve

Having the other characters not age at the same rate didn't seem to bother Lucas in Attack of the Clones.
 
This is easy. Just take the focus off Luke and make someone else the main character. Take the opportunity to show other people's stories within the vast Star Wars universe. In other words, Discworld it. :D

Maybe Star Wars II can be centred around Han, Chewie, Threepio and Artoo as they are off on some super-important mission for the Rebel Alliance (with the implication that Luke & Leia are together back at Rebel HQ -- and maybe introduce a new love interest for Han). Or perhaps it can be centred around an entirely new lead character -- a young Rebel pilot kind of like how Wedge turned out to be characterised in the EU (though probably not Wedge himself). Hmm... maybe that second idea can be saved for Star Wars III.

Hey, something's occurred to me. This sort of structure for the series means there's less of a narrative arc running through it, such as there was with Luke becoming a Jedi in OTL. This means that Lucas is less invested in it. Which means he's still content to hang back and be executive producer and story person as he originally intended rather than becoming involved with the details. Which means that Star Wars may not stop at only three films.

And if Luke is re-introduced in a later film (now a full Jedi), recast him.

Maybe Luke is killed in the begining of ESB and the Jedi replacing him is his sister Leia. Ben sends Leia to Degubah.
Leia wasn't written as Luke's sister until the making of Return of the Jedi.
 
ESB is Set 20 years in the future and Anakin II Skywalker (son of Luke) is the main character.

At the start of ESB

Luke is killed by the beast on Hoth, Han and Leia are captured and frozen in Carbonite.

Anny is raised by Joda and sent to dettermine what happened to Leia. He meets his Grandfather at Bespin: "Anny, I am your grandfather. Lets topple teh evil Emporer who killed your Father." Anny: "YOU have killed my father - prepare to die!"

But thats a whole different story. :D
 
Lucas may have to do a quick rewrite/reshoot to either introduce another male character who would have a minor role in the first Star Wars and who returns in the sequel and is revealed to be Luke's brother. Or more simply recast the role.

Remember that scene on Hoth where Luke was mauled by the Wompa and had to go into that tank for treatment? IIRC Luke looked kind of beat up in that hospital bed. I read somewhere that entire sequence was written to account for how Luke appears different from the first film being that Hamill was in the accident.

If Hamill had died, Luke could've been shown in Empire wearing full arctic gear that covers his face, he gets attacked by the Wompa and undergoes surgery with someone commenting on Luke needing reconstructive surgery done to his face which when revealed is another actor replacing Hamill.


I would vote for this, for what it's worth.

That would be sad!

Don't forget his work on the audio book of of WWZ, that was great.
 

mowque

Banned
Remember that scene on Hoth where Luke was mauled by the Wompa and had to go into that tank for treatment? IIRC Luke looked kind of beat up in that hospital bed. I read somewhere that entire sequence was written to account for how Luke appears different from the first film being that Hamill was in the accident..

A common Star Wars myth. The mauling scene was already in there, it simply happened to help.
 

Geon

Donor
Not Luke but Han?

If Mark Hamil died of course we would lose Luke Skywalker (and later the Joker). However, I wonder about an alternative in Han Solo. Han is a surprisingly lucky individual. One could say almost too lucky judging from the various prequels written about him and an ace pilot. Both of these might be seen as force-related. Harrison Ford apparently did not like the Han Solo character as much as he liked the Indiana Jones character. But, say that during ESB, Luke is seen killed by the ice monster and then Han starts getting "visions" of Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Han and teaches him the ways of the force. The Battle of Hoth still occurs, as does the blossoming love affair between Han and Leia, with the bulk of the film involving Han and Leia trying to reach Dagobah safely. At Dagobah they meet Yoda who very reluctantly trains Han and Leia in the ways of the Force. There is no climatic battle at Cloud City. Instead near the end of their training Yoda-again reluctantly as Ben prods him-tells Leia that Luke was her brother and Vader is her father. Leia is conflicted as to what she wants as the film ends. We are left with Han comforting Leia and vowing to follow her lead regardless of what she decides to do.

Geon
 
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If Mark Hamil died of course we would lose Luke Skywalker (and later the Joker). However, I wonder about an alternative in Han Solo. Han is a surprisingly lucky individual. One could say almost too lucky judging from the various prequels written about him and an ace pilot. Both of these might be seen as force-related. Harrison Ford apparently did not like the Han Solo character as much as he liked the Indiana Jones character. But, say that during ESB, Luke is seen killed by the ice monster and then Han starts getting "visions" of Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan trains Han and teaches him the ways of the force. The Battle of Endor still occurs, as does the blossoming love affair between Han and Leia, with the bulk of the film involving Han and Leia trying to reach Dagobah safely. At Dagobah they meet Yoda who very reluctantly trains Han and Leia in the ways of the Force. There is no climatic battle at Cloud City. Instead near the end of their training Yoda-again reluctantly as Ben prods him-tells Leia that Luke was her brother and Vader is her father. Leia is conflicted as to what she wants as the film ends. We are left with Han comforting Leia and vowing to follow her lead regardless of what she decides to do.

Geon

Sounds good to me. Han then becomes even more lucky. You also wind up with a wordly wise jedi instead of an idealistic one.
 
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