Luke Skywalker Officially Returns To Star Wars This Week

Credit: MovieStillsDB Published Aug 31, 2026, 9:31 AM EDT Felipe Rangel is a Movie and TV Journalist ScreenRant. He has been writing about movies and TV since 2021. Felipe joined ScreenRant in 2022, working across different teams, covering everything from breaking news to features to reviews and more. Felipe is a writer who is an avid film and TV fan, with superhero movies and series being his biggest passion. He graduated from college in 2019, having studied Journalism. Before college, he spent a month studying at the Oxford English Centre. His superhero knowledge expands to the comics, with his undergraduate thesis being "Politics Reflected In American Comics." Sign in to your ScreenRant account Luke Skywalker is back in a new Star Wars release this week, and it comes with a surprising twist. Star Wars stands as the biggest sci-fi movie franchise of all time, and with that status, it has obviously created many exciting characters that fans continue to ask to see more decades later. A taste of that was given in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. After all, the franchise brought back Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford as Han Solo, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, and more. In the years since that trilogy ended, the Star Wars franchise has seen the return of even more fan-favorite characters, including Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker, Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi, Diego Luna's Cassian Andor, and many others. As such, while future Star Wars movies and shows will continue to debut new characters, such as Ryan Gosling's Kade Auberon in 2027's Star Wars: Starfighter, the space opera franchise will seemingly also keep looking at its past for ways to bring back beloved characters. For instance, a New Jedi Order movie focused on Daisy Ridley's Rey is in development after the Star Wars sequel trilogy. A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Star Wars? “The Force will be with you. Always.” 🗡️Jedi OrderLight-side guardians ⚡The SithRule of two ⚙️The RebellionA new hope 🪓Bounty HuntersThis is the way 👑The EmpireOrder 66 PUNCH IT! → 01 The original Star Wars film — later retitled Episode IV: A New Hope — opened in just 32 American theatres and proceeded to become the highest-grossing film of its era, redefining what summer blockbusters could be. In which year did it premiere? A1975 B1977 C1979 D1980 ✓ Correct! 1977 — specifically May 25. 20th Century Fox had so little faith in the project they only opened it in 32 theatres at first; queues quickly stretched around the block, and the film expanded to over 1,000 screens within months. It earned $307 million in its initial domestic run, won six Academy Awards (with another four nominations) and inverted Hollywood’s economics for the next 50 years. ✗ Wrong. The answer is 1977. 1975 is when the script was being shopped around. 1979 is when Star Trek: The Motion Picture released as a Star Wars-shaped countermove. 1980 is The Empire Strikes Back. The original Star Wars is May 25, 1977. NEXT → 02 A New Hope’s writer-director was a then-32-year-old American Graffiti veteran who’d struggled to get the project greenlit and famously took back-end profit and merchandising rights in lieu of a higher salary — the deal that would build a billion-dollar company. He returned to direct the prequels but stepped away from the original-trilogy sequels. Name him. ASteven Spielberg BGeorge Lucas CFrancis Ford Coppola DIrvin Kershner ✓ Correct! George Lucas. The merchandising rights he kept (because Fox didn’t value them) became the financial bedrock of Lucasfilm and the basis of the modern toys-and-licensing megabusiness. After A New Hope, Lucas produced but didn’t direct Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner) or Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand), then directed all three prequels (1999–2005). He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 and stepped away from creative control of the sequels. ✗ Wrong. The answer is George Lucas. Steven Spielberg was Lucas’s close friend (and the godfather of his post-A-New-Hope career) but never directed a Star Wars film. Coppola was Lucas’s mentor at USC and at American Zoetrope. Irvin Kershner directed Empire Strikes Back. The original is Lucas’s. NEXT → 03 In 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader delivers cinema’s most-misquoted line at the climax of his Cloud City duel with Luke Skywalker. Vader severs Luke’s hand and reveals their relationship. The exact line is — for the record — “No, I am your father.” What relationship does it confirm? AVader is Luke’s uncle BVader is Luke’s father (Anakin Skywalker) CVader is Obi-Wan’s brother DVader is Han’s father ✓ Correct! Vader is Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. The reveal was so jealously guarded that Mark Hamill was only told the real line on set the day they shot it (the script said “Obi-Wan killed your father”), and even James Earl Jones recorded the dub without knowing the full plot context. The line — commonly misquoted as “Luke, I am your father” — rewrote what trilogies could pull off and is broadly considered cinema’s most famous twist. ✗ Wrong. The answer is that Vader is Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker. The whole foundation of the Skywalker saga collapses to this single twist: Anakin (the Jedi prodigy of the prequels) becomes Vader after his fall. Luke and Leia are revealed in Return of the Jedi to be his twin children, separated at birth. NEXT → 04 Yoda — the green, ear-twitching Jedi Master — was puppeted and voiced from his Empire Strikes Back debut through the prequels and the sequels by a single Muppet-show-veteran performer who also voices Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. Name him. AJim Henson BFrank Oz CSteve Whitmire DBrian Henson ✓ Correct! Frank Oz — longtime Jim Henson collaborator and voice/puppet work on Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle and Grover. Oz puppeted Yoda directly through The Phantom Menace before CGI took over for Attack of the Clones onward, but he’s continued to voice the character through the sequels and animated series. Yoda’s syntax was developed jointly by Lucas and Oz to feel old, foreign and hard-won. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Frank Oz. Jim Henson was Oz’s mentor and collaborator (he created the Muppets) but didn’t voice Yoda. Steve Whitmire took over Kermit after Henson’s 1990 death. Brian Henson is Jim’s son and runs the Henson company today. Yoda is Frank Oz’s. NEXT → 05 In a deal that reshaped Hollywood, Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion in cash and stock — bringing Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ILM and Skywalker Sound under the Disney umbrella. The deal also kicked off the sequel trilogy production. In what year did Disney close the acquisition? A2009 B2010 C2012 D2014 ✓ Correct! 2012 — specifically October 30. The deal was announced with simultaneous reveal that a Star Wars Episode VII was being developed for a 2015 release. Lucas had been quietly preparing his exit from Lucasfilm for years; Kathleen Kennedy had been brought in as co-chair months earlier specifically to take over. The Force Awakens came out three years later, in December 2015, kicking off the modern era. ✗ Wrong. The answer is 2012. 2009 is when Disney acquired Marvel ($4 billion). 2010 is the year before Lucas began signalling exit plans. 2014 is when production proper began on The Force Awakens. Lucasfilm joined Disney on October 30, 2012. NEXT → 06 The Mandalorian launched as Disney+’s flagship original on November 12, 2019 — the day the streaming service itself launched. Created by Jon Favreau and run by Dave Filoni, the show centres on a helmeted bounty hunter who reluctantly becomes a foster father to “The Child” (Grogu). What is the Mandalorian’s real name? ABoba Fett BCobb Vanth CDin Djarin DBo-Katan Kryze ✓ Correct! Din Djarin — played by Pedro Pascal under the helmet (with body double Brendan Wayne handling much of the physical work). The Mandalorian is widely credited with reviving Star Wars on TV, popularising the StageCraft LED-volume virtual production technology now used across Hollywood, and turning baby Yoda — Grogu — into the meme-economy phenomenon of late 2019. Three seasons have aired with a feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, set for May 2026. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Din Djarin. Boba Fett is the famous bounty hunter from the original trilogy, with his own Disney+ spinoff (The Book of Boba Fett, 2021). Cobb Vanth is the Tatooine marshal played by Timothy Olyphant. Bo-Katan Kryze is the Mandalorian princess played by Katee Sackhoff. The Mandalorian himself is Din Djarin. NEXT → 07 Order 66 — the secret directive that turns the Republic’s clone troopers against their Jedi commanders and effectively ends the Jedi Order — is dramatised in the climactic third act of which prequel film? AEpisode I: The Phantom Menace BEpisode II: Attack of the Clones CEpisode III: Revenge of the Sith DRogue One ✓ Correct! Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Palpatine’s “Execute Order 66” comm to the clone armies leads to the methodical, planet-by-planet liquidation of the Jedi Order — one of the saga’s most operatic sequences, scored to John Williams’ “Anakin’s Betrayal” cue. The same film features Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, the Mustafar duel with Obi-Wan, and his rebirth as Darth Vader in the suit. Widely re-evaluated as the best of the prequels. ✗ Wrong. The answer is Revenge of the Sith. Phantom Menace ends with Qui-Gon’s death and the unveiling of Darth Maul. Attack of the Clones ends with the Clone Wars beginning. Rogue One is set just before A New Hope, after Order 66 has long since happened. The Order 66 sequence is the climax of Episode III. NEXT → 08 Andor (2022–25) is widely regarded as the most adult, politically literate Star Wars project ever made — a slow-burn prequel to Rogue One charting Cassian Andor’s radicalisation against the Empire. The series was created and showrun by a writer/director best known for the original Bourne trilogy and Michael Clayton. Name him. ATony Gilroy BRian Johnson CJon Favreau DDave Filoni ✓ Correct! Tony Gilroy. He’d previously been brought in for extensive Rogue One reshoots in 2016, and Lucasfilm gave him near-total creative independence on Andor. Season 1 (12 episodes, 2022) is widely regarded as Star Wars’ finest dramatic writing ever; Season 2 (also 12 episodes, in four three-episode jumps across 2025) closes the gap to Rogue One’s opening scene. Gilroy’s prior credits: Bourne Identity / Supremacy / Ultimatum / Legacy, plus directing Michael Clayton (2007). ✗ Wrong. The answer is Tony Gilroy. Rian Johnson directed The Last Jedi (2017). Jon Favreau created The Mandalorian and is Lucasfilm’s Disney+-era animation/live-action lieutenant. Dave Filoni runs the Filoniverse (Clone Wars, Rebels, Ahsoka, the upcoming Heir to the Empire film). Andor is Tony Gilroy’s. REVEAL MY RATING → The Force Has Spoken · Final Tally Your Galactic Standing 🗡️ / 8 Jedi Master — or moisture farmer on Tatooine? ⤴ ANOTHER GO That said, the original trio remains the faces of Star Wars' golden era, and however the franchise can use those characters, it probably will. Hamill has already returned as Luke in live-action through The Mandalorian, appearing in multiple episodes and seasons of the Disney+ Star Wars series. Now, the character will return in connection to that popular corner of the Star Wars franchise. Luke Skywalker Returns To Star Wars With A Twist Luke Skywalker will be back in animated form, not live-action, in LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The new animated special will be released on Disney+ this Wednesday, September 2. It is one of the three Star Wars universe releases focused on The Mandalorian on Disney+ that day, arriving alongside The Mandalorian and Grogu, the latest Star Wars movie that is now finally making its streaming debut, and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Official Podcast, which brings in the movie's director, actors, crew, and more for a deep dive on the first Star Wars movie since 2019. LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian will serve as a fun and vibrant retelling of the events of The Mandalorian's three seasons, which is why Luke Skywalker will appear. However, instead of being voiced by Hamill, the character will be played by Eric Bauza. That is a surprising turn of events, as Hamill not only reprised his role from the Star Wars movies in The Mandalorian, but the actor is also well-known for being one of Hollywood's most skilled voice actors. Additionally, most of The Mandalorian's cast is returning as their characters, including Timothy Olyphant, Rosario Dawson, Giancarlo Esposito, and many more. Why Luke Skywalker's Recast For LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian Works While not getting to see Hamill return as Luke Skywalker in a medium he dominates so well is disappointing, those hoping to get more of the legendary Star Wars character in the franchise's new release have reason to celebrate. This is not the first time that Bauza has taken over the role of the Jedi Master. The voice actor has already given life to Luke in plenty of animated projects, including six LEGO Star Wars specials. As such, not only is Bauza familiar with the character and the fans familiar with him, but he knows this specific type of Star Wars release very well. Additionally, the major departure for those who watched The Mandalorian will be related to another character. Pedro Pascal does not return as the voice of Din Djarin in LEGO Star Wars: The Mandalorian, with Gavin Hammon taking over the role. This will take some getting used to, as Pascal's voice does a lot of the work for the character in his live-action appearances, and he recently reprised the role this year in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Based on that, Luke Skywalker's Star Wars return this week should sail by rather smoothly in comparison. Release Date September 2, 2026 Director Chris Buckley Franchise(s) Lego Star Wars