Mark Hamill talks Episode IX spoiler security

Hamill talked to Entertainment Weekly about the security measures that J.J. Abrams has taken to prevent any spoilers for Star Wars Episode IX.

Even though he still has work to do on Star Wars: Episode IX, Luke Skywalker himself gave Entertainment Weekly a sense of how secretive the movie’s script has become.

Mark Hamill, who will reprise his role as Luke, explained how scripts today are much more confidential than they were during his Star Wars days in 1977.

"“I still have to go over and do [Episode IX],” Hamill said. “Most of the parts I have coming up beside Star Wars are voiceover — there’s one big one, very high profile, I can’t announce now, that I’m really excited about. You know how it is these days, every time you sign NDAs. I remember back when I read the first Star Wars [script], I was like, ‘Wow, that’s the goofiest thing I’ve ever read.’ I gave it to my best friend to read, and I said, ‘What do you think of it?’ He said, ‘It’s really wild, it’s crazy, can I give it to Meredith?’ ‘Sure, go ahead.’ It went around to all my friends. Of course back then nobody cared. Nowadays it’s like working for some secret deep state government organization, like being in the CIA. They’re going to send rewrites over to Prague on this dark red paper that gives you a headache to read.”"

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There are a few things that stick out here. One is the simple fact that he was actually able to pass around the Star Wars script like it was nothing. I mean, that thing is almost the equivalent to the Declaration of Independence in the geek world. Just imagine Mark and the crew sitting around, when all of a sudden, Hamill casually takes out this huge script and hands it to his friend. Amazing.

The second thing: I’m willing to bet that the “very high profile” voice role is the Joker. Seriously, what else could it be? I know his range in the voice acting realm is pretty big, but if he had to sign an NDA, it makes me think that it’s another Arkham game or a new animated movie or something.

Another thing to note here is that Hamill might not have as big of a role in Episode IX as previously thought. It’s only a year away, so if he still has to do the bulk of his filming, that tells me he’s definitely going to be a Force ghost or appear in a flashback.

The dark red pages that Hamill mentions were previously used on The Force Awakens. It must have worked, especially considering that Han’s death wasn’t leaked or Kylo Ren’s heritage wasn’t revealed. Hamill said that he was allowed to keep his copy of the script for The Last Jedi, a leisure he won’t have this time around.

"“They’re going to fly [the rewrites] over with somebody from the company,” Hamill said. “They’re going to come and give it to me and wait for me to read it before I give it back. So no pressure! You can’t even keep it overnight. But that’s the way it is now.”"

Abrams is taking serious precautions here. Not even allowed to keep it overnight? Wow. You’d think that if he could trust anybody with the script (“The sacred texts!”), it would be Luke himself. Still, it’s hard to blame Abrams for taking measures like these–just look at what happened with Mark Ruffalo and Tom Holland when it came to Infinity War spoilers. Maybe Thanos was right after all; Stark’s not the only one cursed with knowledge.

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

Hamill went on to tell EW that he understands why scripts need to be kept under wraps, but that it bothers him when it comes to rehearsing.

"“I like to make notes, little cartoon drawings in the margins to help me visualize it … whatever you have to do to help remember it,” Hamill said. “You can’t do that in electronic form, it’s so impersonal. I’m old school and long for the days of paper scripts. They wound up letting me keep a script when we were doing [The Last Jedi], but I had to lock it up in a safe every night and then carry it with me and never let it out of my sight. And I can understand why — if [a script] gets out it ruins it for everyone.”"

Alas, the days of paper are behind us (Dunder Mifflin would definitely be out of business by now). Then again, if Mark Hamill wants a copy of the script, you get him a copy of the script.

You really have to admire how seriously J.J. is taking this. Hamill is right–if a script gets out, it ruins it for everyone. Part of the aura of going to a movie like Star Wars or Infinity War for the first time is that you have no idea what to expect. When leaks get out, it takes away from that experience.

If the security measures tell us anything, it’s that something huge is going down in Episode IX. 2019 can’t get here fast enough.

What do you think of Episode IX’s spoiler security? Let us know in the comments.