A Star Wars fan uses deepfake technology to update Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill, Max Lloyd-Jones) as he appears in the Season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. In “Chapter 16: The Rescue”, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and allies attempt a daring rescue aboard Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) Imperial light cruiser, where an army of Dark Troopers is keeping Grogu under armed guard. When the enduring droids Djarin, Cara Dune (Gina Carano), Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), and Mandalorians Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Koska Reeves (Mercedes Varnado) catch in the ship’s control room, it’s a hero with a hood. Who Saves Them: Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
When the Jedi takes off his black hood, viewers see an aged Hamill, now 69, who looks the way he would about five years after 1983 Return of the Jedi.
“It was very difficult because nowadays it is very difficult to keep a secret, especially with Star Warsbecause people are so curious about it, ” said series creator and showrunner Jon Favreau Good morning America about Hamill’s on-set Star Wars return. “So many people are involved in the process, with visual effects finishing, making, filming, the studios, everything.”
In the season finale, written by Favreau and directed by Peyton Reed, Industrial Light & Magic “used whatever technology we had to reduce aging. [Hamill] and try to make it look just like the old movies, ”said Favreau.
After some online commentators criticized the digital-looking Luke in ‘The Rescue’, a viral deepfake posted by Shamook on YouTube has been viewed over a million times by Hamill’s performance in The Mandalorian. Here’s what Star Wars fans are saying about Luke Skywalker’s return in “The Rescue,” which quickly became the top-rated episode of The Mandalorian and one of the highest rated TV episodes of all time, as voted by users on IMDb: