Just because The Force Awakens was met with cheers and not jeers doesn’t mean Mark Hamill wasn’t concerned about the reception. In fact, Hamill tells Vulture that he was “terrified” to reprise the role of Luke Skywalker for Episode VIII, especially after seeing how the prequels were savaged, especially by fans. But Hamill set his trepidation aside to remind those hypercritical devotees that they were pretty shitty for dumping all over Jake Lloyd, who played the young Anakin in The Phantom Menace.
I couldn’t believe some of the things they wrote about the prequels, you know. I mean really, beyond ‘I didn’t like it’. I’m still angry about the way they treated Jake Lloyd. He was only ten years old, that boy, and he did exactly what George wanted him to do. Believe me, I understand clunky dialogue.
Hamill also called fans to task for complaining that the prequels somehow undid the magic of the original trilogy. So, now the “my childhood was ruined” crowd will probably add being shamed by a Jedi for effectively doing that to a 10-year-old boy to their list of grievances.