Mark Hamill says he has Mike Flanagan to thank for getting him to play live-action villains, like in upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk: "He thought outside the box"

As the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Mark Hamill is no stranger to playing the villain, but he credits horror director Mike Flanagan with his move to playing live-action antagonists.

"I've been getting these parts recently, like in House of Usher, that would have been a routine character for me in voiceover, but to play an amoral, sociopathic lawyer, just pure evil, never on camera," Hamill said during The Long Walk panel at this year's San Diego Comic-Con, where GamesRadar+ is on the ground in Hall H.

"So I really have to thank Mike Flanagan because he thought outside the box. He is amazing, this man, so talented, not only as a director, but as a writer. And then Life of Chuck, I mean, you couldn't find two more dissimilar characters," he continued, referring to another King adaptation he's appearing in this year (which Flanagan is also helming).

"I thought at this stage of my career, I'd be, like, spending more time with a metal detector, wandering around the beach, playing with the dogs in the backyard. And I said to my agent, 'You know what, I'm not motivated anymore.' This is, I don't know, 8, 10, years ago. 2019, I said, 'I think I'm gonna just sort of retire and just do voiceover.' But what a turnaround."

The Long Walk is based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King and follows a group of young men who enter an annual televised competition to walk US Route 1. Walkers have to maintain a minimum speed at all times at risk of execution, but the winner gets whatever they want for the rest of their life.

Directed by The Hunger Games helmer Francis Lawrence, the ensemble cast includes Saturday Night's Cooper Hoffman, Alien: Romulus' David Jonsson, and Karate Kid: Legends' Ben Wang.

Keep track of all the latest news from this year's San Diego Comic Con with our regularly updated live blog. The Long Walk arrives in theaters on September 12. In the meantime, check out our guide to the other biggest upcoming horror movies on the way in 2025.