Hopefully you are prepared for a barrage of news regarding Star Wars: Episode VII before its May 2015 release date. Every few hours, new information is coming in, and this new bit of insight into what the next Star Wars trilogy might be is pretty exciting. It involves the return of original trilogy Jedi Luke Skywalker, who we may see as a 40-year-old man on a new mission in life.

EW caught up with the actor behind this iconic sci-fi role, which launched a thousand action figures and a toothbrush or two. First, Mark Hamill explained his shock at hearing the Disney news.

"Oh my gosh, what a shock that was! I had no idea that George was going to sell to Disney until I read it online like everybody else. He did tell us last summer about wanting to go on and do Star Wars: Episode VII, Star Wars: Episode VIII, and Star Wars: Episode IX, and that [newly appointed Lucasfilm president] Kathleen Kennedy would be doing them. He seems to be in a really good place. He's really happy. And that's nice because I know that when we were making the movies, he was not a jolly guy on set. [laughs] I always felt badly for him because he agonizes over details, and I'm sure after imagining it in his head for so many years, to see it realized-he'd look up and just hang his head and groan. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and I were always trying to cheer him up and joke him out of his doom and gloom. I missed his call yesterday, but I spoke to him maybe three weeks ago. But until we know more, it's hard to make any comment other than congratulations to George."

That being said, Mark Hamill actually met with his co-star Carrie Fisher and George Lucas to discuss this new trilogy.

"Yeah, last August, he asked Carrie and I to have lunch with him and we did. I thought he was going to talk about either his retirement or the Star Wars TV series that I've heard about-which I don't think we were going to be involved in anyway, because that takes place between the prequels and the ones we were in and, if Luke were in them, he'd be anywhere from a toddler to a teenager so they'd get an age-appropriate actor-or the 3-D releases. So when he said, "We decided we're going to do Star Wars: Episode VII, Star Wars: Episode VIII, and Star Wars: Episode IX," I was just gobsmacked. "What? Are you nuts?!" [laughs] I can see both sides of it. Because in a way, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end and we all lived happily ever after and that's the way it should be-and it's great that people have fond memories, if they do have fond memories. But on the other hand, there's this ravenous desire on the part of the true believers to have more and more and more material. It's one of those things: people either just don't care for it or are passionate about it. I guess that defines what cult movies are all about. We'll see. I'm anxious to know what's going on, but the main story [yesterday] was the sale to Disney. I have mixed feelings about that, but they haven't done badly by Marvel and the Muppets and Pixar. It's one of those big decisions that at first seems unusual but then the more you look at it, the more it makes sense."

Does Mark Hamill have any insight as to what the plot of this new trilogy might be?

"Well, no, he was just talking about writers and the fact that he wouldn't be directing. I guess he wanted us to know before everybody else knew. He said, "Now you can't tell anybody!" [laughs] Even now I'm nervous about saying anything. I just don't know!"

The news about Luke Skywalker appearing in this new trilogy as a 40 year old man comes from George Lucas biographer Dale Pollock, who was allowed to read the treatments from Episode 7 through Episode 12 while working with Lucas. In speaking with The Wrap, he spilled a bit about what he knows.

"It was originally a 12-part saga. The three most exciting stories were 7, 8 and 9. They had propulsive action, really interesting new worlds, new characters. I remember thinking, 'I want to see these 3 movies."

The writer, who had a falling out with George Lucas some years ago, is not able to say much more about the overall story of this proposed treatment that the creator of the franchise has been working on. He did mention that it revolves around Luke's later-in-life exploits, and that the Disney deal includes these 12 chapters in the Star Wars saga.

"They will need an older Luke Skywalker. [The new] Writers will absolutely take his outline. That's in part what Disney bought."

Is Mark Hamill too old to play a 40 year old Jedi at age 61? Who do you want to see take over the iconic role of Luke Skywalker? Can it be done? Do you even want the character in this trilogy? More will come forth in the very near future.