Mark Hamill explains why Luke had a grappling hook in Star Wars

Always be prepared.

Gael Cooper

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.

Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials

Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.

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Gael Cooper

Nov. 10, 2019 9:01 p.m. PT

leialukebig-1 — Luke Skywalker is ready for anything.
Lucasfilm

The original Star Wars is more than 40 years old, but there are still unanswered questions. Where's Chewbacca's medal? Why doesn't Obi-Wan recognize R2-D2 and C-3PO? And where did Luke get that grappling hook?

In case you haven't watched the original Star Wars in a while, Luke whips out a grappling hook to swing himself and Princess Leia across a chasm on the Death Star. It's the famous kiss-for-luck scene, before anyone knew Leia was going to turn out to be Luke's twin sister. (Whoops.)

But on Sunday, a fan asked Mark Hamill , who played Luke, where the hook came from.

"I'm watching Episode 4 with my kids for the first time today," the fan wrote. "My 4yr old daughter asked a question I've never thought of before. Why did Luke have a grappling hook on his belt?"

@HamillHimself I’m watching Episode 4 with my kids for the first time today. My 4yr old daughter asked a question I’ve never thought of before. Why did Luke have a grappling hook on his belt?
— Lance - Damrias (@damrias_jariac) November 10, 2019

And Hamill had an answer. "It's standard Princess-rescuing equipment," he wrote.

It's standard Princess-rescuing equipment.#AskedAndAnswered https://t.co/KlkMsanwqG
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) November 10, 2019

Fans were quick to point out that Luke took the hook from the Stormtrooper belt he was still wearing from when Luke and Han stole the Stormtroopers uniforms earlier in the film. "Wasn't that belt from the stormtrooper armor he had worn earlier?" said one. "Stormtroopers apparently carry a grappling hook."

Wasn’t that belt from the stormtrooper armor he had worn earlier? Stormtroopers apparently carry a grappling hook.
— Paul Scanling (@pscanling) November 10, 2019

I just now realized Luke having that is the reason every single D&D character I've ever played has taken a rope and a grappling hook as starting equipment, so thanks for that.
— Terrible Idea Robot (@BrianNowhere) November 10, 2019

My question is, who *wouldn't* have a grappling hook on their belt if they had the option?
— Coffee - like the drink, only spelled the same (@allatti2d) November 10, 2019

Aww, that's the sweetest answer ever. The Princess would be very proud of you!😊❤️👍 pic.twitter.com/mqjQkx9xTa
— Hamill❤️Skywalker✝️ (@HamillSkywalkr) November 11, 2019

I think she rescued you. Many times! 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Ow5sXxJZpc
— Eilleen Morrison (@MarianaPaolaGu1) November 10, 2019

Luke Skywalker was just LIKE a Boy Scout, he was an actual Boy Scout: BE PREPARED
— Liddle' Devin Nunes' Former Roommate (@DevinsFRoom) November 10, 2019

Luck favours the prepared
— John Joe (@jjoe1563) November 10, 2019

In the expanded Star Wars universe, I read that he was the president of Tatooine's version of the Boy Scouts, called the Womp Rats. That could explain it.
— Dean Scott (@deantoonfull) November 10, 2019