The Mandalorian season two along with the other The Book of Boba Fett for December 2021. The biggest shocker of the season—and even the show overall—was the surprise cameo of Luke Skywalker towards the end of the season finale.
Through special effects, fans were treated to a younger, post-RotJ Luke who takes Grogu under his care to train in the Force. It's stirred some theorizing and speculation among the fan base, so here's why a Luke Skywalker series is a good idea... and why it should be avoided.
Good Idea: Sebastian Stan
Definitely one of the most talked-about subjects branching off Luke's appearance in RotJ Luke.
Having a series entirely using a minor lookalike covered in facial/voice effects would cost a fortune, especially for convincing CGI, but Sebastian is a way to get a series with Skywalker starring again without spending unnecessarily. Lucasfilm would just need him to do his best Mark Hamill-Luke Skywalker impression.
Avoid: Too Much Focus On Legacy Characters
The obvious point against doing a Luke Skywalker series in this day and age is that Lucasfilm can't constantly use the beloved legacy Star Wars characters as a crutch. Boba Fett and Obi-Wan are already confirmed to be getting their own projects relatively soon, Lando is getting one eventually, and Han recently got a movie, not to mention the OT trinity in the sequels, despite how they were used.
Star Wars has a wide cast of characters available that could use more exposure. The legacy characters at this point are good as tasteful homages, but putting Luke front-and-center again could be an overload of the familiar faces.
Good Idea: Kenobi-Style Limited Series
A great answer for Lucasfilm and fans to have their cake and eat it too is to, like with other Star Wars shows, is to make this a limited series. Having a Luke Skywalker series that's a one-and-done season could be a good way to tell an excellent story with a fan-favorite character without steering the franchise firmly back into incredibly-familiar territory for years. Specifically, a limited series in the format that Obi-Wan Kenobi is set to be.
It's set to be a six-episode series with, presumably, hour-ish-long episodes, but that would be more than enough to tell a great Luke story after VI and/or The Mandalorian and be concise. It may not even need to be tightly woven into Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni's "cinematic universe" corner of the Star Wars galaxy.
Avoid: ing Role Elsewhere Instead
Lucasfilm may want to avoid giving Luke an entire series in a post-Skywalker saga world, but giving him a ing role in another series could be enough to satisfy. They could still have Sebastian Stan play him to give the character a bigger role than a cameo, but small enough that he's not oversaturated. This could avoid risking the legacy crutch while opening up some exciting opportunities.
Since Luke now has Grogu under his wing, he could be a part of a future season of The Mandalorian, and/or—as long as it's handled tastefully—Sebastian could play him in the Rosario Dawson-led Ahsoka, as that's a dynamic that would elate many fans given Ahsoka Tano's ties to Anakin Skywalker. It'd be fantastic to see two fan-requested castings pan out well.
Good Idea: What Becomes Of Grogu
The easiest narrative choice in favor of having a Luke Skywalker series would a storyline with him training Grogu. The species clearly ages extremely slowly, since, by season one, he was already 50 years old, so we definitely wouldn't be able to see a time jump where he's even an adolescent, as Luke would likely be older than he is in the sequels.
Nonetheless, it's evident that Luke is still a seasoned Jedi after Return of the Jedi and that Grogu's Force abilities are potent. Therefore, there's plenty for the former to teach the latter, and it would make for a great story arc with flexibility in who can be antagonists.
Avoid: Explore The Dark Side Instead
While Lucasfilm is leaning heavily into expanding live-action TV since all or most of the December-announced shows will be streaming in the next three years or so, their efforts should go into other creative places for Star Wars. One could be going deeper into the exploration of the Dark Side of the Force since the heroes of the Light tend to be focused on more.
The Acolyte seems to be taking a step toward this, and, while we don't know specifics, we could use content with Sith main characters. The Jedi and Sith are two sides of the same coin, and getting to see more from the perspective of the latter would be thrilling. With Luke being one of the paragons of the Light, a character that's his philosophical parallel might be worth experimentation while still exploring different eras.
Good Idea: A Great Send-Off
Having a series about him—ideally a limited series—has the potential to be a powerful, concise story to give fans a great send-off for the character on-screen. The great Mark Hamill saw him close Luke's arc in The Last Jedi, and, while the sequel trilogy wasted some potential on several fronts, having a show about a younger version would be a great way to give fans one final adventure with him as long as it's similar quality as Favreau and Filoni's work.
A series could provide more context prior to his appearances in the sequels by filling in at least some gaps in the timeline. The Clone Wars and Rebels helped the prequels contextually.
Avoid: Play With Different Eras
As exciting as Obi-Wan Kenobi is, one tired trend of Lucasfilm's is their fixation with filling in gaps from the same eras. A Luke series could show us lead-up to the sequels, but that would be only slightly different from what they've largely been doing already. They mostly make content in between the prequels/prequels and originals.
Going between the OT and the sequels is newer territory, but Star Wars is, by nature, a vast universe and Lucasfilm should take advantage of that. In addition to The Acolyte, more High Republic on-screen would be welcome, as it's fresh and far from the Skywalkers.
Good Idea: Luke Series With Ahsoka ing
Expanding on an earlier thought, a series with Luke as the centerpiece and Ahsoka as a ing character could be a great proposition for both of them. Having Sebastian Stan hypothetically cast as a younger Luke and the character's surprise cameo in The Mandalorian paves the way to have that version of the character return, and it could give Rosario Dawson's live-action Ahsoka more places to appear in a significant way.
As mentioned, with Ahsoka's connection to Luke's own father, having the two meet could be brilliant, and we'd also get one more show for Dawson's adaptation to shine on top of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and the crossover event with Rangers of The New Republic.
Avoid: Reopening Old Wounds
Making Luke the focal point of a series could run another risk aside oversaturation. Being one of the most important figures in Star Wars, the way he's depicted can be tricky. If nothing else, Rian Johnson can be respected for trying to do something new, but, aside from the ill-intentioned within the community, Luke's portrayal was divisive, even with those who took more kindly to it.
While no one can know what Lucasfilm might have planned, if mishandled, it may reopen old wounds. Unless absolutely confident, the Skywalkers should rest for the time being.