Why Mark Hamill Was Scared of "Ruining" The Flash While Reprising His Iconic Trickster Role

Why was the Star Wars icon "intimidated" on the CW series?

By Sydney Bucksbaum Mar 31, 2015 5:00 PMTags
The FlashDiyah Pera/The CW

Jumping back into a role decades after first portraying it should come second nature to Mark Hamill by now.

Not only is he reprising his iconic Star Wars role, Luke Skywalker, in the highly-anticipated blockbuster sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but he's also returning to The Flash tonight after first appearing in the original '90s show as The Trickster.

"I'm a fan. I loved the comics when I was a kid and I watched the original series," Hamill told E! News along with a small group of reporters at a press screening of the episode. "When this version came on, my daughter Chelsea is a big fan, and I watched it from the very first episode. I even thought, since they were doing Mirror Master and Weather Wizard and various other Rogues Gallery characters, I wondered if they were going to do the Trickster."

Diyah Pera/The CW

But Hamill never in a million years thought he'd be the one to play that iconic villain this time around.

"I thought I would play a colleague of John Wesley Shipp's, a professor, something age-appropriate," Hamill said with a laugh. "I'm not getting back into the one-piece jumpsuit, the spandex deal! When they said [they wanted me to play] the Trickster, I just couldn't believe it! I was very skeptical."

In fact, Hamill even revealed that the whole experience of reprising his own role decades later was "intimidating."

"I loved it but it is intimidating," Hamill said. "I didn't want to show up and ruin a series I liked. That's the danger. It was terribly intimidating until I got there. Once you get into the spirit of it, it's like slipping into comfy old pair of tennis shoes."

Diyah Pera/The CW

But in typical The Flash fashion, Hamill's return to the DC Comics world comes with a bit of a twist.

Since the episode plays as a "sequel" to the original series, Hamill's Trickster is currently locked up in Iron Heights Prison serving a life sentence for terrorizing Central City all those years ago, and a new, younger Trickster (played by Devon Graye) takes up his old mission to bring chaos to the city. While onscreen, the original Trickster does not appreciate someone stealing his legacy, offscreen Hamill couldn't help but gush over how talented Graye is.

"I think the world of [Graye] and as far as I'm concerned, he's a worthy successor," Hamill said. "He's just tremendous."

Cate Cameron/The CW

Tonight's episode is going to be a treat for both old fans and new ones alike. Seeing Shipp and Hamill share the screen together again will give any fan of the original series a major kick, and there are enough easter eggs sprinkled throughout the episode to satisfy even the most basic fan.

"It's not just me who loved the old show," executive producer Andrew Kreisberg said. "There are so many people who work on the show and they were all so excited to [drop easter eggs]. There are so many in the script. They made the old Trickster suit to put on the mannequin. As always with these things, we try to be much more than a show about easter eggs. And being so blessed in Mark being interested to come back, this is a way in which you've never seen the Trickster before."

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on the CW.