47 years after the launch of the first Star Wars film, Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, explained why George Lucas changed the character's name to the iconic version it is today. It is a well-known fact that the name Luke in the original Star Wars (later renamed A New Hope) was actually “Luke Starkiller”, a much more aggressive version of the heroic surname that came to define the Star Wars episodic saga. Over the years, the reasoning for this change has been explained in a few places, but Hamill himself has now provided his own explanation.
Hamill reveals on Policy' podcast as he was informed of his character's name change, as well as the circumstances surrounding it. He says that the scene in which Luke introduces himself to Princess Leia inside his cell had already been filmed with Luke's Starkiller surname, and that Hamill was confused to see the same scene in a later filmed call. After asking why this was happening, Hamill was told that his name had been changed to “Skywalker,” to which Hamill responded with “Oh, my God, like fire.”
When I read the script, which by the way was called Luke's Starkiller Adventures. This was taken from the Journal of the Wills, Saga number one, Star Wars, and my name was Luke Starkiller, which I read on the call sheet. When I rescued the princess, I filmed it. She said, 'Aren't you a little small for a stormtrooper?' And go what? Oh, the helmet? I take off the helmet. 'I'm Luke Starkiller. I'm here to rescue you. So we filmed that and I got the roll call and saw that that scene was there again. I said, 'What's up with that?' They said, 'Oh, well, they changed your name.' I said, 'What for?' And they said to Skywalker. “I said Skywalker, Oh my God, like fire.”
Hamill then brings up the Star Wars focus group and the dispute they had on set around the dynamics of this group with Lucas. He says this, at one point, the focus group”I didn't like the word wars“, which would, of course, have completely changed the title of the film. Fortunately, that didn't happen, but maybe they were right as far as Luke was concerned.
The Star Wars Focus Group Was Right (About Luke Starkiller, Anyway)
It's hard to imagine him as anyone other than “Skywalker”
In the case of Luke's name, the Star Wars the focus group was definitely correct here. Starkiller is a very aggressive name for someone like Luke, who promotes genuine care and empathy for other beings in the galaxy. – and certainly shouldn't be so heavily associated with killing and smashing (even though he has one of the highest kill counts in the galaxy from the destruction of the Death Star). Skywalker has also become so iconic that it's hard to imagine Luke by any other name. Still, it's good that Lucas stuck to his guns by keeping the “wars” in the title.
Star Wars brought Starkiller back 31 years later
In two different ways
The name Starkiller, of course, is now associated with Galen Marek's “Starkiller” Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. A video game released in 2008, Starkiller was Darth Vader's secret apprentice, although the character is now considered part of the Star Wars Continuity of legends rather than canon. Still, even Star Wars Canon brought back the name Starkiller, making it the name of the First Order's base on the planet that was previously known as Ilum. This made Starkiller a permanent part of the Star Wars history.
Source: Policy'