Luke Skywalker was originally called Luke Starkiller, and Mark Hamill says he "hated" the name change

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Luke Skywalker wasn't always called Luke Skywalker – and Mark Hamill really wasn't a fan of the name change.

Star Wars's protagonist was originally named Luke Starkiller, and Hamill got as far as filming the scene where Luke rescues Princess Leia on the Death Star before it was changed.

"It stuck for so long that we shot the scene, 'I'm Luke Starkiller I'm here to rescue you,'" Hamill said on This Morning. "And they came back the next week, and I said, 'Why are we doing that scene again?' They said, 'Oh, they've changed your name.' I said, 'To what?' And they said, 'To Skywalker.'

"And now, you've gotten so used to the other [name], and plus, let's face it, Luke could use a little machoing up with his name," Hamill continued. "I said, it sounded like Luke Flyswatter. I hated it, I just hated it. Because for four months, that's all it was."

The name 'Starkiller' was used again in Star Wars, though, both for Darth Vader's Legends apprentice Galen Malek, and for Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens.

Hamill can next be seen in Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, in which he plays the villainous Major.

As for Star Wars, next up is The Mandalorian & Grogu, which will be the first big screen release for the franchise since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.

The Long Walk releases this September 12. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies of the year to fill out your watchlist, or see our roundup of the biggest movie release dates.