All 12 Luke Skywalker’s Movies (& Shows) Appearances in Order
One of the most important characters in the storyline of Star Wars is Luke Skywalker because he is often seen as the original hero of the storyline. Of course, Luke proved himself to be every bit of a hero that fans thought he was as he was the one who redeemed his father, Darth Vader, to bring balance back to the Force and defeat the Empire once and for all.
But Luke wasn’t only a mainstay in the original trilogy. In fact, he has appeared in many different Star Wars movies and shows due to how important he is to the overall storyline of this lore. He is often seen as the most important person in Star Wars, together with Anakin Skywalker. So, with that said, let’s look at all of the different Luke Skywalker movies and series appearances.
Star Wars movies and shows featuring Luke Skywalker in release date order:
- ‘Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope’ (1977)
- ‘Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)
- ‘Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
- ‘Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ (2005)
- ‘Star Wars Rebels’ (2014)
- ‘Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ (2015)
- ‘Star Wars: Forces of Destiny’ (2017)
- ‘Star Wars – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi’ (2017)
- ‘Star Wars – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019)
- ‘The Mandalorian’ (2019)
- ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ (2021)
- ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ (2022)
Are all Luke Skywalker’s appearances connected? Do you need to watch them in a specific order?
If there’s one thing that’s true about Star Wars, it’s that this lore is quite expansive in the sense that the history of the galaxy and the Jedi Order goes all the way back to 25,000 years in the past. But while that may be true, one of the things that is also true is that all of the Star Wars movies and shows are interconnected.
That means that an event that may have happened thousands of years ago can still be connected to an event that took place just recently. Some events involving certain characters can still affect the events involving different characters. This holds true in Luke Skywalker’s case, as all of the different movies and shows he appeared in are connected.
There is no doubt that all of the different movies and shows that Luke appeared in are related to one another because the events of his previous appearances affect the events of his next appearances. That is why you must watch all of the movies and shows that include Luke, as doing so will allow you to learn more about his character.
What is the best way to watch these movies and shows?
One of the things that fans often talk about in relation to the storyline of Star Wars is the watch order of the different movies and shows. That’s because, as we all know, the movies were released in reverse order. After all, the original trilogy came before the prequels. After that, the sequels came. There were also many shows between the different movies that were released.
The good news is that the movies involving Luke Skywalker as an adult occur during the original and the sequel trilogy. But we know he appeared in limited roles in prequel movies and shows. So, with that said, the best way to watch Luke Skywalker’s Star Wars movies and appearances is by following the chronological order of the in-universe events.
You can still watch the movies and series by order of their release dates. That’s because Luke’s appearances in the prequels were very limited in terms of his role. On top of that, some of his appearances in the prequels were simply to fill in some holes. However, the New Republic era shows that he appeared in are better watched after the original trilogy before you go into the sequels.
Whatever the case, it is best to watch those movies and shows in in-universe chronological order instead of the release dates to avoid confusion.
All Luke Skywalker’s appearances in chronological order
1. ‘Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith’ (2005)
Luke Skywalker’s very first appearance in the Star Wars universe happened in ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ wherein his father, Anakin Skywalker, fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader to prevent his visions of Padmé Amidala’s death.
However, Padmé died due to a broken heart, but not before she gave birth to her twin children. Of course, one of the children born from the love between Anakin and Padmé was Luke Skywalker, who appeared as a baby. Obi-Wan Kenobi took Luke and gave him to his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on Tatooine, where he grew up after his mother died.
2. ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ (2022)
Ten years after the events of ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ Obi-Wan Kenobi was seen living a tired and boring life on Tatooine during the events of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ He did embrace his role of watching over Luke. But the problem was that he wasn’t exactly happy with his life because he thought that he contributed to Anakin’s downfall and killed him.
While Obi-Wan’s story is the series’ focus, Luke was seen a few times in this show. He appeared in the first episode, where it could be seen that he was role-playing as a pilot while Kenobi was watching over him. Luke was also attacked by the Inquisitor named Reva during the latter portion of the series. And at the end, he finally got the chance to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi.
3. ‘Star Wars Rebels’ (2014)
Yes, Luke appeared in ‘Rebels.’ But let’s explain the background of his appearance first before you say anything. ‘Rebels’ was never about Luke or any other character shown in the original trilogy. Instead, it was about a small band of Rebels called the Spectres.
In one of the episodes, Ezra Bridger found out that Darth Maul was hunting Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Ezra is familiar with, due to the Jedi Holocron that his master, Kanan Jarrus, possessed. Ezra wanted to save Obi-Wan, only for Maul to use him to get to the old Jedi Master. Obi-Wan and Maul fought their final duel, where Kenobi won decisively after Maul sensed that he was protecting an important person. After the duel, a silhouette of Luke could be seen from afar as Obi-Wan continued to watch over the boy.
4. ‘Star Wars – Episode IV: A New Hope’ (1977)
Luke Skywalker’s first official introduction into the Star Wars universe occurred in the first Star Wars movie ever made. In ‘A New Hope,’ Luke was introduced as one of the movie’s heroes when he saw the message that R2-D2 was supposed to send to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. This forced Luke to embark on a mission that changed his life.
Meeting the droids and Obi-Wan allowed Luke to change the trajectory of his life as he started training as a Jedi and finally joined the Rebellion after spending so many years wanting to be a Rebel against the Empire. And he eventually became a hero when he destroyed the Death Star by trusting in the will of the Force.
5. ‘Star Wars – Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980)
Three years after the events of ‘A New Hope,’ Luke continues his training as a Jedi but struggles in that regard because he doesn’t have a proper teacher. Meanwhile, he and the other Rebels were hiding on the frozen planet of Hoth, which the Empire eventually attacked.
Luke and his allies escaped Hoth, but he needed to go to Dagobah after hearing Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost telling him to go to that planet to meet up with a great Jedi Master named Yoda. While the initial meeting between Luke and Yoda wasn’t entirely good, the Jedi Master trained Luke. But Luke had to leave Dagobah to rescue his friends, only for him to fight Darth Vader. And it was in this movie that Luke found out that Vader was his father all along.
6. ‘Star Wars: Forces of Destiny’ (2017)
‘Forces of Destiny’ is a series of short animated episodes that were released on Lucasfilm’s YouTube channel in 2017. The series itself isn’t important as far as the Star Wars canon is concerned, but there were episodes that filled in small and tiny gaps in the Star Wars lore.
As an anthology, ‘Forces of Destiny’ followed different characters in different episodes. There were episodes that featured Luke, such as the one wherein he and Yoda were on Dagobah while he was training in the ways of the Force.
7. ‘Star Wars – Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
Ending Luke Skywalker’s run in the original trilogy was ‘Return of the Jedi,’ where he was now a true Jedi Knight. He returned to action to help his friends save Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. After losing Yoda to natural causes, Luke decided that he didn’t need to kill Darth Vader because he knew that there was still good in him.
Luke eventually went to the Death Star II to confront Vader and the emperor. He dueled with his father and defeated him after momentarily tapping into his inner darkness. But when the emperor tried to pull him over to the dark side, he refused to do so, and that was when Palpatine tried to kill him by blasting him with Force Lightning. Luke’s agony and cries for help forced Vader to become Anakin once more as he killed the emperor and brought peace to the galaxy while saving his son from certain death.
8. ‘The Mandalorian’ (2019)
Five years after the events of ‘Return of the Jedi,’ Luke returned to the Star Wars lore as a true Jedi Master and a Rebel hero during the season 2 finale of ‘The Mandalorian.’ And he appeared at the best time possible in a series that followed a Mandalorian named Din Djarin, who was on a mission to bring a Force-sensitive child named Grogu to the Jedi.
After Grogu used the Force on Tython to call any Jedi who could sense him in the galaxy, he was captured by Moff Gideon and his Imperial remnants. While Din successfully defeated Gideon and rescued Grogu, the Dark Troopers were far too strong for Din and his allies to defeat. But Luke appeared out of nowhere to rescue the Mandalorian and his allies. Luke took in Grogu to train him to become a Jedi.
9. ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ (2021)
Luke Skywalker appeared in a cameo scene during the events of ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ which obviously tells the story of Boba Fett after he survived the Sarlacc Pit in ‘Return of the Jedi.’ And Luke appeared in the episodes that focused more on Din Djarin and Grogu.
In this series, Luke could be seen together with Grogu on the planet where he was constructing his new Jedi Temple. Luke wanted Grogu to become his first student and even offered him a choice between becoming a Jedi or returning to Din Djarin. But Grogu’s attachment to Din made him choose the Mandalorian life over training with Luke. Still, Luke taught him well enough that he learned a few tricks of his own.
10. ‘Star Wars – Episode VII: The Force Awakens’ (2015)
Luke Skywalker returned to the movie scene three decades after the fall of the Empire. However, he was hardly featured in ‘The Force Awakens,’ which focused more on the new generation of heroes of the Resistance, an armed group that resisted the First Order.
The story is that the First Order’s Kylo Ren, the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, was looking for Luke to kill him and end the Jedi once and for all. But Luke was nowhere to be found because he hid on a remote planet. Rey, the heroine, finally found the map that led to Luke as she went to the planet of Ahch-To, where she found an old and weary Luke, who never uttered a word as the movie ended.
11. ‘Star Wars – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi’ (2017)
The events of ‘The Last Jedi’ picked off right where ‘The Force Awakens’ ended. However, the Luke that Rey found on Ahch-To was a tired and defeated old man who no longer wanted anything to do with the Jedi Order or the First Order. Instead, he just wanted to stay there, all depressed about his failures in life. But Rey was adamant about bringing him back.
While Rey left without taking Luke back, the Force Ghost of Yoda talked some sense into Luke. Finally, Luke returned not as an old man but as a true Jedi Master when he confronted Kylo Ren when the First Order was about to destroy the Resistance. Luke dueled his old pupil and managed to trick him, as this was just a Force projection the entire time. However, Luke died on Ahch-To due to the amount of effort he exerted into creating a Force projection.
12. ‘Star Wars – Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019)
Luke was already dead during the events of ‘The Rise of Skywalker.’ However, we did see his body disappearing at the end of ‘The Last Jedi,’ as this implies that he became one with the Force at the end of his life.
After Rey defeated Kylo Ren, who destroyed the only key to finding the ancient Sith planet of Exegol, she gave up and was about to throw the Skywalker lightsaber into a fire. But Luke’s Force Ghost appeared to talk some sense into Rey and give her the wisdom and clarity she needed to continue fighting. Luke’s voice could be heard later in the movie as all of the Jedi spoke to Rey through the Force to give her the strength she needed to defeat Palpatine.
Where to watch the above-mentioned projects?
All of Luke’s appearances in movies and series can be watched on Disney+, the streaming service by Disney. Of course, Disney owns the exclusive rights to Lucasfilm and all of the Star Wars movies and shows. And that’s why Disney+ is the only place to stream the movies and shows featuring Luke.
Will there be more Star Wars movies and shows featuring Luke Skywalker?
At this point, we aren’t sure whether or not Luke Skywalker will be featured in another movie or series. There’s a good chance that he will return in one of the movies or shows taking place during the New Republic era, which is now the era that Lucasfilm has been expanding on the most to bridge the large gap between the original trilogy and the sequel movies.
We already saw Luke in ‘The Mandalorian’ and in ‘The Book of Boba Fett.’ That means there’s a good chance that he will appear in another future movie or series taking place during the events of the New Republic, especially with the Mando-verse movie still in the schedule of Lucasfilm’s future releases.
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