As the elements gather for Star Wars: Episode VII, talk (and a whole Bantha-drawn sled’s worth of speculation) has turned to which of the original cast might return. There have already been rumours that Harrison Ford is mulling a deal to reprise Han Solo, and Mark Hamill has gone on the record to say that there have been talks. Now the once – and possibly future – Luke Skywalker has had more to say, chatting with Entertainment Tonight.

“They're talking to us," Hamill says. "George Lucas wanted to know whether we'd be interested. He did say that if we didn't want to do it, they wouldn't cast another actor in our parts – they would write us out. … I can tell you right away that we haven't signed any contracts. We're in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed – on their end, not mine. They're more busy than I am."

Yes, just so we’re clear: these are meetings taking place, not contracts actually being signed. For once it’s a report from the horse’s mouth, and while you can lead it to water, you can’t necessarily make it drink. Or get it to the starting gate. Or… Oh, make up your own dreadful horse reference, though our lawyers would caution that it’s best not to bring up Findus.

As for Hamill’s thoughts on what direction the new movies should take? "I said to George that I wanted to go back to the way it was, in the sense that ours was much more carefree and light-hearted and humorous – in my opinion, anyway. And another thing I'd want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie and Harrison and Billy Dee and Tony Daniels, everybody that's around from the original returning? I want to make sure that everybody's on board here, rather than just one. I guess I'll have to tune into your show to figure out who's on board."

But where does he see the story going? Turns out it’s similar to what most of us have had in mind. "I'm assuming, because I haven't talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring – like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range as an influential character. … When I found out while making the original trilogy that ultimate good news/bad news joke – the good news is there's a real attractive, hot girl in the universe; the bad news is she's your sister – I thought, 'Well, I'm going to wind up like Sir Alec Guinness. I'm going to be a lonely old hermit living out in some kind of desert igloo with a couple of robots.'"

Whatever happens, we definitely want Hamill back. The Force is strong with this one.