Mark Hamill Finally Shaves off His Jedi Beard, Says He’ll Have to Grow It Back for Episode IX

Haven’t seen my chin since May ’15, so #FarewellFacialFur & #ByeByeBeard (at least til #EpisodeIX) @popculturequest pic.twitter.com/gaScz1okk6

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) August 30, 2016

Mark Hamill isn’t a fan of facial hair, but they’re standard issue for aging Jedi, so he had to grow one for his appearances in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Episode VIII. Of course, with Episode IX still on the way and pretty much everything about VIII still unknown, everything Hamill does is under a microscope, so he had to throw in a little something about the future to prevent fans from spiraling out of control when he shaved it off.

But what does it all mean? Probably nothing other than that Hamill has been cleared of the need for any reshoots in the near-term. Filming for Episode VIII wrapped about a month ago, but the release is still a ways off in December 2017 as post-production on the surely effects-heavy film gets underway. He may well need to grow the beard back if any reshoots become necessary, but there’s plenty of time for that next year—probably closer to Episode IX’s start of filming, when he may need to grow it back anyway.

Or it’s all a giant conspiracy, and Luke dies in Episode VIII! Or he has to wear a Vader helmet and no longer needs the beard! … Or Luke shaves his beard when he comes out of hiding in Episode VIII. You know … take your pick. On the other hand, even the fact that Luke makes it to Episode IX alive could be considered a spoiler at this point, though, so who knows? (He could always appear as a Force ghost, too.) Search your feelings, I guess.

(image via screenshot)

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