Happy Birthday today to Mark Hamill, who has gone down in cinematic/sci-fi/fantasy, and blockbuster history for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker, the sandy-haired, wide-eyed Jedi prodigy in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Hamill has been recently thrust back into the limelight of sorts, as he is currently part of the filming production of the highly anticipated JJ Abrams-helmed Star Wars: Episode VII, which is set to debut in theaters the end of 2015 and also finds Hamill reprising his storied character. While details of the narrative of the upcoming film are pretty hush hush on the QT type stuff, what is for sure is that the return of Mark Hamill is cause for celebration, not only because of his return to a major role on the silver screen, but because it also signals his return to the franchise, started in that Hollywood galaxy, a Hollywood long ago and far, far away.

It’s easy to see why the appeal of Hamill, even at the age of 63, has the charm that’s its had beholden to so many Star Wars zealots and laymen; the man is bright, witty, never took himself seriously, or the character, or the entire milieu it exists in and the surrounding zeitgeists. One of his famous and oft-repeated quotes was that, breaking down his assessment of his importance to Star Wars, was that he was a “raisin in a fruit salad.”

Someone like a Robert Downey Jr. would take a feeling like that to the other extreme albeit successfully, and parlay that without HIM, Iron Man would be a worthless franchise, devoid of any color and magnetic magnitude he brings to it. Downey, of course, would do it in that jovial kidding and sarcastic manner he’s had with the tongue firmly in cheek and the extremely grinning charm, but Hamill seems to do it the other way. He’s always seemed to downplay his role as Luke Skywalker, but he’s also charming and lighthearted and not grumpy as if he was denouncing his association with the character or the franchise. He’s kind of the rare, almost down the rabbit hole kind of soul who makes infrequent appearances since his last stint in the Star Wars franchise, back in 1983 with Return of the Jedi, so it always seems like a special event when he surfaces on screen (he’s done tons of voice-over work). And he’s surfaced in somewhat low key affairs, be it as the voice of the Joker in the animated Batman series from a few years ago to making cameo appearances and supporting roles in films that may have wavered in terms of quality, but he always seemed to be game to be in them anyhow, and there’s something always kind of intriguing about watching Hamill in a non-Skywalker environment, unlike say the still megawatt stardom of Harrison Ford and the always around somewhere reliability of Carrie Fisher post-Star Wars. In short, Mark Hamill being back in that limelight is something special indeed.

It will be great to see him next year reunite with his former cast mates Fisher and Ford in Star Wars: Episode VII. He’s also in the upcoming Colin Firth James Bond on steroids pic Kingsmen. It certainly all adds up to a welcome return and a key figure to have back in the public eye again, like an old friend calling after a decade or finding an old memento in one’s attic hope chest.

Happy birthday to the great Mark Hamill, someone whose sheer force has been and will be with us always.