Mark Hamill Reveals ‘Star Wars’ NDA, Hints ‘Force Awakens’ May Have Bigger Secret Than Vader Reveal


Much has been made over Luke Skywalker’s absence from the promotional campaign surrounding Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and while actor Mark Hamill is intimately acquainted with the details of the Jedi’s story, he has a very real reason for keeping that information to himself. Aside from taking pride in his ability to keep secrets — he recently noted that he knew Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father over a year before anyone else involved with The Empire Strikes Back, and he didn’t even tell his wife! — Hamill is also faced with a financial incentive to keep a lid on things, courtesy of Disney.

With the release of The Force Awakens just over a month away, the rumor mill surrounding the movie is at a fever pitch. Up until now, fans have seen nothing more than a brief glimpse of Luke Skywalker in the trailer (and even that is something of an assumption), leading many to speculate wildly about the fate of Hamill’s character, some three decades after Return of the Jedi. A vocal group of fans have asserted that Skywalker has turned to the Dark Side in the ensuing years, while others have gone even further, suggesting the last of the Jedi could actually be Kylo Ren or Supreme Leader Snoke.

In a new interview with PC Gamer, Hamill revealed exactly why he’s been so tight-lipped regarding the Skywalker storyline, and in the process gave fans more than enough fodder for continued speculation. As the Tech Times pointed out, Hamill noted that he has a serious financial incentive to keep his mouth shut ahead of the release of the newest Star Wars film, and that his non-disclosure agreement even prevents him from confirming that he is actually in The Force Awakens.

“It’s crazy. This NDA stuff – non-disclosure agreement. Where you’re not allowed to talk about stuff. I have something coming out, where there’s an amount of money where if it leaks because of me, I don’t get that payment. If I keep it a secret until the day it comes out, I get that payment.

“[The Darth Vader reveal] was a mind-boggling plot twist…Now it’s happening all over again. I’m not even authorized to tell you that I’m in Episode VII.”

It is, of course, the last part of that quote that is sure to pique fan interest. To be clear, Hamill wasn’t saying that a massive plot twist is present in The Force Awakens, but rather that the non-disclosure process is “happening all over again.” His choice to compare the two films, however, alludes to a secret that fans are not yet privy to, a state of affairs that is only heightened by his utter absence from the newest Star Wars trailers.

While the existence of a Vader-sized plot twist cannot yet be confirmed, Empire magazine spoke with Hamill, and the actor revealed that fans are indeed in for more than a few surprises with The Force Awakens. Hamill also noted that fans would be seeing Luke Skywalker “at a very different time in his life,” referencing the widely-known fact that he is, indeed, in the film even if he’s not authorized to explicitly state so.

During the interview with PC Gamer, Hamill also recalled that he even kept the Vader reveal a secret from his fellow co-stars, as only he, George Lucas, and Irvin Kershner were privy to the knowledge. As such, the other two would know that he was the leak if the plot twist surfaced before the film’s release. Hamill also pointed out that even if the original line, “Obi-Wan killed your father!” proved to be true, he would have considered that in and of itself an excellent plot twist.

With just a few weeks before the release of The Force Awakens, fans will soon find out what part Mark Hamill plays in the newly resurrected Star Wars saga, and what (if any) plot twists await them.

[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney]

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