Mark Hamill’s Star Wars Replacement Character Is Nothing Like Luke Skywalker

It would be challenging to make any list of the greatest heroes of all time without mentioning Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. While audiences may have been used to seeing superpowered characters with confidence and abilities, Luke was unique because he was simply a young man trying to find his place in the galaxy far, far away. Hamill has been an integral part of the Star Wars franchise since its inception and has returned to play a more grizzled version of Luke in the most recent sequel trilogy. However, Hamill played a different Force-powered character when he had a guest role in the sixth season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Who Is Darth Bane in ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars?’

Hamill voices Sith Lord Darth Bane in the episode “Sacrifice,” in which Yoda (Tom Kane) travels to the dark side world of Morriban after intercepting a vergence in the Force. Although he is eventually met with a startling vision about Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) starting an intergalactic conflict, Bane shows that the Sith have secretly been plotting to take down the Jedi Order for years. Hamill brought a creepy sense of legacy to the character, differentiating him from the other Sith Lords already featured in the franchise. Although he and Yoda never engage in an actual lightsaber duel, Bane certainly set precedents for the Sith dynasty that have had ramifications that lasted long beyond his death.

Bane is a crucial character in the Star Wars universe, initially established by George Lucas in the official novelization of Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace as the Sith Lord who created the Rule of Two, which said that only one Sith master and one apprentice could exist at a time in order to keep the organization secret. While earlier regimes of Sith had become too obsessed with power and ended up annihilating each other, Bane recognized that there was an opportunity to deceive the Jedi Order into thinking that the dark side had become extinct. Bane was certainly an imposing figure whenever he engaged in combat, but it was his strategic mind that ended up shaping the direction of the Sith moving forward and, in many ways, inspired Palpatine.

Bane’s appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars brought him into the official canon, as many of the books, comics, video games, and other expanded universe content released prior to 2014 were classified as part of the “Legends” timeline. Formerly known as the Expanded Universe, the Legends timeline became decanonized to make way for Disney’s new timeline, though several things from the Expanded Universe have since been brought over. Although the three Darth Bane novels by Drew Karpyshyn were often cited as among the best Star Wars spin-offs, many fans doubted that the character would ever be brought into the new canon. Bane’s appearance was a significant moment that showed that Lucasfilm had paid attention to the love that the character received; the fact that it was Hamill voicing the character and bringing such a sinister edge to the role made it even cooler.

Mark Hamill Is More Than Just Luke Skywalker

Hamill’s live-action roles outside of the Star Wars franchise have been relatively few and far between; Hamill is among the most celebrated voice actors of all time. His performance as Joker in Batman: The Animated Series is often cited as one of the best interpretations of the character, but Hamill has also had roles in Regular Show, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Boy and the Heron, Codename: Kid Next Door, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Venture Bros., and Justice League: Unlimited. It was only a matter of time before Hamill popped back up in an animated project, even if it was a return to an existing franchise as a new character. Hearing him as Bane was a welcome (if not entirely surprising) treat for fans who had been waiting to see which character he would play next.