Photo: Tyler Garcia (@tgarcia996)
It’s go big or go home at International Comic-Con: San Diego (SDCC). Mark Hamill knocked it out of the park with not one, but three days of A+ cosplay.
Hamill kicked off the weekend in Brooklyn Nine-Nine threads on Friday at the Brooklyn Nine-Nine panel, followed by a full-body Storm Trooper costume on Saturday. The Star Wars legend really brought the force for his final day on Sunday with a bold political statement featuring the villainous leader of the dark side. Or did he?
Introducing, Orange Vader:
"It's true… ALL of it."#OrangeVader #MyFinalDayAtSDCC2018 https://t.co/9j7AU7JFmD
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) July 23, 2018
A man thought to be Hamill swapped the traditional Darth Vader ensemble for an orange mask, which he paired with orange boots, an orange golf club in place of a light saber, black gloves, and a white polo shirt with the slogan “Make the Death Star great again” plastered on the back. He also wore a fluffy blonde wig to top it all off.
Fans posted their sightings on social media with the hashtag #OrangeVader, some not knowing it was Hamill until the actor later confirmed through retweets. Always mysterious, there are no photos exposing Hamill’s face while wearing the disguise, and the San Diego Union Tribune reported that it wasn’t actually him, but rather a man named James Cherry, who has been photographed in the costume on more than one occasion by Union Tribune photographer K. C. Alfred. Cherry goes by the alter-ego Darth Trump, not Orange Vader.
Hamill ran with the idea that it might’ve all been a mind-trick, retweeting the article claiming it wasn’t him, along with other messages to throw people off.
There's an unsubstantiated rumor I'm at #SDCC right now wearing a mask to avoid being recognized (I'm not)-But if I really WAS there in disguise, would I lie about it to fool people-secretly talk to fans-attend panels & have fun? (I would) #ComicConCon pic.twitter.com/8vxvFsQg48
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) July 19, 2018
Either way, take one look at Hamill’s Twitter feed and you’ll quickly see his thoughts on Donald Trump (spoiler alert: he’s NOT a fan), making it clear this was meant to be a dig against the controversial president. Perhaps a comparison between the two rulers? Orange is the new black, after all.