I’ll be honest: When Mark Hamill suddenly appeared at the end of the second season of “The Mandalorian” as young Luke Skywalker to save Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu, I was just as happy to see young Luke back in action (even though I had previously hoped that those responsible would not do that). But the second time I watched the episode, a skeptical view of the moment returned that hasn’t disappeared since. It even increased with Luke’s next appearance in The Book of Boba Fett.
I believe that rejuvenating Star Wars legends for individual appearances is a huge danger – and Lucasfilm needs to reconsider. My biggest concern isn’t that some of it still doesn’t look right, unfortunately. It is mainly the dangerous dead end to which this leads that worries me.
There are limited possibilities with digitally rejuvenated figures
Anakin Skywalker plays an important role in the new episode of “Ahsoka”. Actor Hayden Christensen was digitally rejuvenated. This doesn’t always look good, but it’s done in such a way that you accept it for the brief moments – especially since Dave Filoni plays very successfully with “Star Wars” iconography, for example by having Anakin briefly become Darth Vader.
One problem is that digital rejuvenation is accepted for brief moments when a figure is often in shadow. Longer stories are therefore more difficult to implement. That’s why Luke’s appearance in The Book of Boba Fett was far more ridiculed than his brief rescue mission in The Mandalorian. And we remember the opening of “Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Destiny.”
But what’s much worse is: Anyone who relies on digital rejuvenation is limiting themselves. You can tell very little about the character and only have him appear briefly. With Anakin it’s not that big of a deal. There is probably no “Star Wars” character whose entire life and work has been as epically told as this one. There are hardly any gaps left to fill.
Things are different with Luke Skywalker. That’s how much time was skipped between Star Wars 6 and Star Wars 7. In a cinematic flashback and in the series’ brief appearances, we got a little insight into his life in between, but not much else. By clinging to digital rejuvenation, Disney is depriving itself of the opportunity to ever tell Luke’s post-Return of the Jedi adventures live.
And it’s not just Luke Skywalker, but every single Star Wars character who might still have interesting gaps. Only books and animated series can fill it – unless Lucasfilm reconsiders.
And I’m not saying that Lucasfilm should please tell more stories with the same characters. I’m looking forward to when completely new eras are explored, when ‘Logan’ director James Mangold tells the creation of the Jedi some 25,000 years before all the events covered so far, or when Leslye Headland takes us into the fascinating and exciting books featuring “The Acolyte”, the explored world of the High Republic, kidnapped.
It’s all about the opportunities you deny yourself. If someone has a great idea for a series or movie about a famous character, it shouldn’t be dismissed because it won’t work with digital rejuvenation.
A plea: even recast legendary characters!
The solution is so simple, as the new episode “Ahsoka” on Disney+ proves. Because we also see the Jedi of the same name at a young age. Because a digital rejuvenation would have been considerably more complicated due to the changing body size, the replacement route was chosen here. Not Rosario Dawson rather Ariana Greenblatt plays young Ahsoka – and does it brilliantly.
The actress, who we also saw as young Gamora in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and most recently in ‘Barbie’ and ’65’, made a big impression on me and once again made it clear to me that Lucasfilm must certainly have the courage to create characters . to recast when the original actors are no longer available at the right age – even though we’ve already seen them at that age.
As is known, this has already been done: In “Solo: A Star Wars Story“slipped Alden Ehrenreich in the cult role of Harrison Ford. The film didn’t meet box office expectations and I fear that Disney and Lucasfilm have drawn the wrong conclusion from it and now believe that fans don’t want a new cast of their favorites (although the box office disappointment of “Solo” had yet to many other reasons).
I am now convinced: Currently, fans are very quick to accept a new cast if it is presented in a good and moving story – as in the current episode of “Ahsoka”. When the young heroine remembers the Clone Wars and fights alongside Commander Rex (Temuera Morrison) on Mandalore, it carries a lot of emotional weight, and all that matters is that the actress can handle it – which Greenblatt does with flying colors. BUT:
With each further digital rejuvenation it will become much more difficult to change our thinking. The image of what these characters should have looked like at the time is becoming increasingly solidified, which may make it harder to accept a new cast. Therefore, Lucasfilm needs to rethink this very quickly, otherwise we will end up completely in the impasse of digital rejuvenation. By the way, short appearances in other series would be perfect to introduce new actors in well-known roles.