The Long Walk, based on the novel by Stephen King, premieres on the 2025 movie schedule today, which means fans are about to see a very different side of Mark Hamill. The man who will forever be known as Luke Skywalker plays the movie's villain, a role that Hamill says he planned to turn down, but had his mind ultimately changed by director Francis Lawrence.
Hamill tells EW, “I hate guns,” when explaining why he had initially planned to refuse the role of The Major in The Long Walk. The level of gun violence in the story, which sees boys compete in a contest to walk the furthest, facing execution at the hands of soldiers if they fail, was just too much for him. Hamill decided to call director Francis Lawrence himself to tell him he was turning down the project, but that conversation actually changed his mind. He said…
I realized this is the exact guy who should do this.
Mark Hamill’s role in The Long Walk is vital to the story, and while it’s a much smaller supporting role compared to the young men who are the focus, he’s truly great as The Major. As unlikely a choice as he might have been, he’s quite perfect. We should be very glad Francis Lawrence was able to talk him out of turning it down.
The Long Walk has long been seen as a Stephen King adaptation that was likely unfilmable, due to both the level of violence and the fact that the violence was focused on young boys. Our own The Long Walk review called it the "bleakest" adaptation of King in a long time, and that's absolutely true. As somebody who has seen the film, I can say the movie can be absolutely brutal, but the actual visible violence is at a minimum.
This seems to be exactly what turned Hamill around on the project. The Long Walk is a story that lives in a world of violence, but it’s not about the violence. It’s a story about the characters and the relationships they form during the walk. Hamill continued…
Clearly, it's not about the violence. That's the ultimate punishment for failing, but I think the way it's structured, the first death is the most graphic and the audience records that in their memory. Every other elimination is perfunctory at best. It's not about brains exploding.... It's about the relationships of these guys. The real heart and soul of the picture are their experiences under these incredible circumstances.
For those who do have issues with gun violence or visceral gore, as Hamill himself does, that first death is quite shocking. But after that, The Long Walk simply doesn’t need to keep showing it to you. Your imagination is enough to envision that which you cannot see, and it’s unlikely the film will be able to match the picture in your head.
The Long Walk is an incredible film with an incredible cast of young actors. While it can be hard to watch, and has an even darker ending than Stephen King's original story, it's a movie worth seeing.
