Star Wars 7: Mark Hamill reveals new details about Luke Skywalker's exile in The Force Awakens

Luke Skywalker may have been absent from the official trailers and posters of Star Wars 7 but Mark Hamill is making it a point to reveal more details about his iconic character in bits and pieces. After leaking the vital information that the former Jedi Master will survive the events of The Force Awakens, he has confirmed that Luke will spend his life on an isolated planet.

In a special cover story for Empire magazine, the 64-year-old Hollywood actor said fans will see Luke in the movie. However, he will not return as the "innocent farm boy" of Episode IV. "Obviously you're seeing him in a very different time in his life, there are lots of surprises in this movie. You're going to love it," Hamill said in the Star Wars special edition Empire magazine (via Slashfilm).

Rumours are strong that the seventh instalment of the highly popular space action thriller will be about Rey (a space scavenger) and Finn ( a runaway storm trooper) embarking on a galactic journey to find the Jedi legend who is on a self-imposed exile following the events of the Return of the Jedi.

While talking about the movie, Hamill said that while shooting for his exile scenes he literally felt that he was somewhere far, far away from the galaxy. "It reminded me of when I was in Tunisia on the salt flats. If you could get into your own mind and shut out the crew and look at the horizon, you really felt like you were in a galaxy far, far away. I had that same wave of emotion happen to me when I was on Skellig Michael in Ireland. I wasn't anticipating it."

Fans were expecting to see their favourite Jedi in the final trailer of the J.J Abarams directed space odyssey but were left highly disappointed when there was no hint of Hamill's character in it. It is assumed that hiding Luke's look is a master marketing strategy by Disney and Lucasfilm in order to maintain curiosity among fans for the movie, which is slated for Christmas release.

Advance ticket bookings for The Force Awakens have already set new records and expectations are high that the movie will become one of the biggest blockbusters of Hollywood. Star Wars 7 will premiere on 17 December in the UK, a day before its US premiere.

The movie is the first of a new trilogy starring original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker alongside Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver and Domhnall Gleeson. Newcomers and British actors John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are playing the key role of Finn and Rey respectively.