Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Mark Hamill confirms opening shot was originally of Luke's severed hand

'The first thing that came into frame was a hand with a lightsaber'

Before Star Wars: The Force Awakens reached cinemas, rumour websites were running rampant with reports about the film, teasing which characters would be returning and who wouldn’t.

One of the more obscure rumours was based on how Episode VII was going to begin; with a scene in which Luke Skywalker’s severed hand from Empire Strikes Back would plummet to Jakku, leaving his lightsaber on the planet.

While seemingly ridiculous, Mark Hamill has since confirmed this was indeed the plan for some time.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I can tell you now that in the original opening shot of seven, the first thing that came into frame was a hand with a lightsaber, a severed hand that enters the atmosphere, and then the hand and bone burns away and goes sticking into the surface of Jakku, and this alien hand comes in, don’t know if it was Maz but it was an alien hand who takes the lightsaber way, and then the movie proceeds as you see it.”

Since the film’s home release, numerous new pieces of information about The Force Awakens have emerged online. Just a day before May the Fourth, one eagle-eyed fan noticed that a reference to the prequels had been deleted from the film even though it made an appearance in the trailer.

In a separate interview, director JJ Abrams also spoke about the table of ash featured in the film, revealing the sadistic reason Kylo Ren keeps his helmet in the remains of his victims.

Meanwhile, Rogue One is gearing up for release this December, with Disney releasing the first trailer for the film. The director’s of the Han Solo spin-off film have also teased their film, posting an image of the loveable rogue’s blaster to Twitter.