Mark Hamill surprises with 'Star Citizen' footage
Ambitious spacefaring video game "Star Citizen" snuck in a special surprise for viewers of its regular studio updates, with a "Star Wars" Day peek at Mark Hamill in one of its spaceships.
In addition to being forever associated with the "Star Wars" movies, and highly respected for his voice acting (he's been a memorable Joker in "Batman: The Animated Series" and its successors,) Mark Hamill is also a big name in the world of video games.
After making its initial appeal in October 2012, "Star Citizen" became the most crowdfunded project in history by January 2013.
Since then, it has raised over $141 million from players and backers who want to see the revered "Wing Commander" designer realize his expansive vision for space-faring games using today's computer hardware.
Cast members recruited for a story-based tranche of "Star Citizen" missions, called "Squadron 42," have included established TV and film professionals Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files"), Liam Cunningham ("Game of Thrones"), Jack Huston ("Ben-Hur"), Ben Mendelsohn ("Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"), Rhona Mitra ("Nip/Tuck"), Gary Oldman ("The Dark Knight"), John Rhys Davies and Andy Serkis (both "The Lord of the Rings"), Mark Strong ("Kingsman" movies), Harry Treadway ("Penny Dreadful"), and Sophie Wu ("Kick-Ass.")
The original star of 1990s "Wing Commander," by then already hugely well known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" motion picture saga, was Mark Hamill, and he's been similarly engaged for a part in "Squadron 42."
"In the spirit of 'May the 4th,' we thought it would be fun to show you a little glimpse of Mark Hamill in the cockpit," explained studio head and industry veteran Chris Roberts.
From 23m44s of May 4, 2017's episode of "Star Citizen: Around the Verse," Hamill can be seen seen in facial motion capture gear, delivering lines on either side of a finished, animated render of his "Squadron 42" character, Lt. Cdr. Steve 'Old Man' Colton (youtu.be/y78PPfs1NXc?t=23m44s).
The "Squadron 42" aspect of "Star Citizen" is expected to release at some point during 2017.
