During Fan Expo Chicago, Star Wars legend Mark Hamill revealed that he’d been disappointed in one aspect of Luke Skywalker’s story in Return of the Jedi—and his idea was so much better. Return of the Jedi, like the entire original trilogy, is considered one of Star Wars’ best movies, and it remains beloved among Star Wars movies and TV shows. In fact, many believe that this movie, which concluded the original trilogy, fully stuck the landing, giving the perfect ending to the stories of some of Star Wars’ best characters. However, Hamill’s original idea may have proven even better.

During the Fan Expo Chicago panel “Mark Hamill Live,” Hamill shared that when he had first read the script for Return of the Jedi, he was surprised (and a bit disappointed) to see that Luke’s story wasn’t quite what he thought it would be. Rather, as revealed in a video shared by va.va.vera on TikTok, Mark Hamill expected Return of the Jedi to see Luke Skywalker grappling with the light versus the dark side of the Force within himself to a much greater extent.

While Return of the Jedi is undoubtedly a brilliant Star Wars movie, Hamill’s idea for the story would have made this franchise classic even better.

Mark Hamill’s Right; Luke’s Dark Side Temptation Could’ve Been So Much More

It isn’t the case that Luke Skywalker didn’t face any temptation in Return of the Jedi. In fact, Luke seemed dangerously close to tapping into the dark side during his fight with Darth Vader. When Vader threatened Leia, saying he would try to get Leia to join him if Luke wouldn’t, Luke briefly lost control, letting his anger consume him. Surprisingly, this anger and power nearly enabled him to kill Vader, although, because he hadn’t turned to the dark side of the Force, he was able to stop himself.

This temptation was minimal compared to what could have been in Return of the Jedi .

However, this temptation was minimal compared to what could have been in Return of the Jedi. Although Mark Hamill seemingly mentioned Luke’s black attire in the original trilogy’s third movie a bit cheekily, he wasn’t wrong; Luke’s stylization throughout much of Return of the Jedi is more in keeping with Star Wars’ villains than Star Wars’ Jedi, and not just because of the black clothing. As Hamill pointed out, this could have signaled a genuine pull to the dark side of the Force and a more significant conflict within him.

Arguably, this storyline would have been even more compelling. In the end, Luke still could have been a nearly perfect example of what a true Jedi should be in Star Wars, but he could have first truly grappled with a pull to the dark, specifically linked to his father and all that had transpired between them. Even without this story, Return of the Jedi is an incredible Star Wars movie, but it’s nevertheless delightful to imagine what could have been had Mark Hamill’s idea for Luke Skywalker’s story been used.