Mark Hamill joined a packed house on Day 1 of Fan Expo Chicago, and was greeted in a packed panel room with an introduction by none other than Giancarlo Esposito alongside a couple of Storm Troopers, Darth Vader and–hilariously–an extremely tall Jawa. Esposito was in full blown Moff Gideon mode as he waxed on about the lure of the Dark Side, and how he wanted to “have a piece of that big-eared bastard” Grogu. After asking the audience to “Follow me, Grand Moff Gideon” he turned to his entourage, who eagerly agreed to join him in his Dark Side activities. Even the Jawa let out a spirited “utinni!”
Esposito really amped up the crowd, but Mark Hamill seemed tired when he finally got on stage–fresh off of filming his part in the film The Long Walk in Winnipeg–which he was only recently reported to have a role in. But he’s not done filming yet, saying “I have to go back.”
The Long Walk is based on a Stephen King novel–which King wrote under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman–and is set in a dystopian future where a group of boys walk until only one remains in a grim endurance contest which is broadcast to a national audience, akin to something like The Hunger Games. Of his role and experience filming The Long Walk he revealed precious little except to say it’s “grim stuff.” Hamill previously worked with Flanagan on The Fall of the House of Usher and will also have a part in Flanagan’s upcoming The Life of Chuck, which stars Tom Hiddleston. Sadly, Mike Flanagan canceled his Fan Expo appearance, so we won’t be able to get any more insight there.
Hamill went on to talk about a range of subjects–including his voice work on Avatar: The Last Airbender where he portrayed Fire Lord Ozai. When he first got the role, he didn’t think the show would last very long. Hamill said, “I loved (Avatar: The Last Airbender). And I didn’t say this to the people at work, but in my own mind that I said, this thing’s going to be five episodes and gone–it’s too smart.” Hamill went on to say of its success “you don’t talk down to children, you talk up to them. You can not only engage them, but their parents might watch with them, and that’s what happened with that show. That’s why it got renewed over and over and over again.”
Covering all his major roles lately, Hamill moved on to talking about the Regular Show, which was revealed a few months ago to be getting new episodes, and Mark Hamill confirmed he was returning as Skips. Hamill recounted how William Sawyers–who voiced Mordecai on Regular Show–messaged Mark Hamill and asked if he was in for the new episodes. Sawyers relayed to Hamill that he was worried he wouldn’t be on board, to which the legendary actor replied ‘Like I’ve somehow outgrown them. ‘No, I’m sorry, I don’t do that anymore,’ I said. No. I wrote him back. I said there’s only one Skips.”
There’s definitely only one Mark Hamill, too. He not only packed the hall, forcing General Admission attendees into an overflow room, he’s already sold out his pricey autograph packages for the entire weekend.
We'll be on the show floor all weekend long with more tales from Fan Expo Chicago's panel rooms and cosplay photos from out on the floor. If you're making plans post-Hamill, make sure to make some time in your busy schedule for our panel on Sunday at noon on the Creator's Stage when we'll be hosting Culture Combine's Pop Culture Happy Hour, talking all things fandom, playing games, and giving away prizes. We'll see you out there! Happy con weekend, Chicago!
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