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Star Wars star Mark Hamill responds to SNL joke about Luke and Leia's incestuous kiss in The Empire Strikes Back

Twins kiss in the original trilogy

Clémence Michallon
New York
Tuesday 31 December 2019 21:28 GMT
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - trailer

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Mark Hamill has responded to a Saturday Night Live joke about Luke and Leia’s incestuous kissing in the original Star Wars trilogy.

The actor, who famously portrays Luke Skywalker in the franchise, spoke out on Twitter days after Michael Che poked fun at the movies during Weekend Update, the SNL segment he shares with Colin Jost.

“The new Star Wars surprised fans by featuring a gay kiss,” Che said in reference to a brief same-sex kiss that can be seen in The Rise of Skywalker.

“Which seems pretty tame considering the first movie had incest.”

An image of Luke and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) kissing in The Empire Strikes Back – the second film in the original trilogy – appeared on the screen at this point.

In his response, Hamill highlighted the fact that at the time of the kiss, Luke and Leia didn’t know they were related, since their lineage was only revealed in the following movie, Return of the Jedi.

“SNL Weekend Update – ‘The new #StarWars​ surprised fans by featuring a gay kiss – which seems pretty tame considering the 1st movie had incest’ WRONG!” he wrote.

“Since Luke & Leia were totally unaware that they were related in any way whatsoever – what they did was actually #Innocestuous.”

The confusion over Luke and Leia’s relationship is also apparent in A New Hope, the very first Star Wars film, where Leia is seen planting a quick kiss on Luke (still not knowing he’s her sibling) before the two swing together from a rope.

The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth and final chapter in the Skywalker saga, is out in cinemas now.

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