Ever since the announcement of new Star Wars films, there’s been constant speculation on whether Mark Hammil, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher would reprise their roles as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia, respectively.

According to reports, all three are open to the idea, with some recent reports even suggesting that Ford has already signed on for Star Wars: Episode VII. Everyone’s favorite moisture-farmer-turned-Jedi-Master, Mark Hammil, recently talked to Entertainment Tonight about where things currently stand with the next Star Wars film.

More after the break.

——

“They’re talking to us. George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we’d be interested. He did say that if we didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t cast another actor in our parts – they would write us out. I can tell you right away we haven’t signed any contracts. We’re in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael [Arndt], who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed – on their end, not mine. They’re more busy than I am.”

His thoughts on what direction the plot will take:

“I’m assuming, because I haven’t talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring – like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range [as] an influential character. When I found [while making the original trilogy] that ultimate good news/bad news joke – the good news is there’s a real attractive, hot girl in the universe; the bad news is she’s your sister – I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to wind up like Sir Alec [Guinness]. I’m going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots.”

Hamill also gave his thoughts on who he’d like to see return to the franchise:

“Another thing I’d want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie and Harrison and Billy Dee and Tony Daniels, everybody that’s around from the original returning? I want to make sure that everybody’s on board here, rather than just one.”

Of course, Hamill is referring to Billy Dee Williams, aka Lando Calrissian, and Anthony Daniels, aka CP30. He then went out on to discuss what he would like to see in terms of SFX work.

“I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and lighthearted and humorous – in my opinion, anyway. I hope they find the right balance of CGI with practical effects. I love props, I love models, miniatures, matte paintings – I’m sort of old school. I think if you go too far in the direction of CGI it winds up looking like just a giant video game, and that’s unfortunate. If they listen to me, it’ll be, ‘Lighten up and go retro with the way it looks.’”

So, Mark Hamill definitely seems keen on a return, not to mention keen on a return for everyone else. A personal favorite of mine – Luke, the Ultimate Warrior, Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart and Davey Boy Smith were my childhood idols – I always feel that Hamill gets a bit of a bum deal when it comes to the general consensus. For those that find him wooden, I urge you to track down his fantastic work as the Joker in the various Batman animated works. For those that love a cheesy 80′s horror film, I urge you to check out his hammed up, mustache-sporting appearance in Body Bags. And if you’re still in doubt on Hamill’s credentials, just check out his fantastic, wise old Jedi beard on the picture in the middle of this article.

Directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: Episode VII is on course for a 2015 release.

[Entertainment Tonight] [Images via 1 & 2]