For decades, Star Wars was limited only to the big screen. But that didn’t always yield positive results. Just take a look at the Sequel trilogy for example. The audience and critical reception to it was mixed.

Being only on the big screen also restricted their ability to explore the various parts, characters, and more of the galaxy far far away. But Disney+ changed the entire game.

With the streaming service at hand, Lucasfilm was able to explore various projects in the TV format. And they started it all with the Mandalorian. But this show was different from the rest.

Why The Mandalorian Changed The Game?

The one thing that set the Mandalorian apart from other tv or serialized offerings was the budget. So even though the Mandalorian was made in the serialized episodic format, but it had a big budget backing it up. As such, every time it airs, it feels like watching a high-quality movie every episode.

The Mandalorian has been praised by critics and audiences alike for great plot and character development. Not to mention the fact that people loved its original storytelling.

In a short span of only two seasons, the show brought animated characters from the previous animated Star Wars shows to live-action, included iconic characters, and reinvented the Star Wars wheel.

Truly it did it all, and there’s still more to come with season 3 reportedly aiming for a spring 2022 release. Current reports also say that production has started on the show.

The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale Was Perfect

So the show is basically perfect. But what’s even more perfect is the season 2 finale of the show. Truly, the finale of the second season remains unmatched. After all, it was that episode that established the connection between the Mandalorian and the wider Star Wars universe in the finale.

The season 2 finale titled “The Rescue” saw Luke Skywalker arrive to take Grogu away so that he could train him in the ways of the force. This made fans ecstatic as they got to see the beloved character who many felt wasn’t treated right in the sequel trilogy.

However, there was one aspect of Luke’s return that some didn’t like.
It was the badly done digital re-aging of star Mark Hamill. After the episode aired, many fans complained that the CGI used felt sub-par. But complaining isn’t the only thing that fans did.

Deepfaker Who Fixed Luke Skywalker Cameo Gets Hired By Lucasfilm

One particular deepfake artist actually improved the CGI in the scene all by himself in a viral video. This little action seems to have brought some good fortune to him. After all, he got hired by Lucasfilm.

Reddit user Gandamack recently went to the platform to share the news that talented deepfake artist Shamook has been hired by Lucasfilm. The famous YouTuber attracted the attention of the company after he improved Mark Hamill’s de-aging in the season 2 finale of the Mandalorian.

Shamook himself revealed the news as well in the comments section of his new YouTube video where he digitally replaced Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne with new Batman Robert Pattinson in multiple clips from The Dark Knight trilogy.

The artist said this:

“As some of you may already know, I joined ILM/Lucasfilms a few months ago and haven’t had the time to work on any new YouTube content. Now I’ve settled into my job, uploads should start increasing again. They’ll still be slow, but hopefully not months apart.”

It’s clear that Shamook hadn’t had time to work on new videos because before 2 weeks ago, his last upload was during mid-March. So him being late in uploads does indicate the fact that he has probably been hired by Lucasfilm.

A fan then asked him in the comments section about his official position in Lucasfilm. In response, the YouTuber confirmed that his official job title was as a Senior Facial Capture Artist. The online listings for similar job positions at Lucasfilm described the job description as:

“[successfully retargeting] an actor’s facial performance onto a CG character.”

Disney And Lucasfilm Recognize The Talent In Fandom

Note that Shamook was recruited to Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic division. And they do often develop visuals for other franchises and studios as well.

So this might shock you, but the visual effects company has in fact collaborated on multiple Marvel Cinematic universe projects, as well as multiple DC hits as well.

Another one that they have worked on is James Bond’s latest outing titled No Time to Die. Also, know that even though the job description of a Facial Capture Artist would include the digital de-adding of Luke Skywalker. But the role is way more expansive than that.

Nonetheless, we are sure that Shamook’s impressive deep faking history will surely translate well into his new position. We are looking forward to seeing him contribute to future projects. W

Who knows, maybe this hiring means that we might get to see Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker again? This will certainly be welcomed by fans, as the rumours of Sebastian Stan being cast as young Luke Skywalker are doing the rounds. Now, this isn’t to say that people hate Sebastian Stan. It’s just that Mark Hamill is iconic as Luke.

It’s not clear whether Lucasfilm reached out to him or whether Shamook applied for the position himself. But it’s still exciting to see Disney and Lucasfilm recognize the top talent that already exists in the fandom.

You can stream The Mandalorian now, exclusively on Disney+.

Check Out: 10 Questions We Want Answers To In The Mandalorian Season 3