Star Warsis back in a very big way.Star Wars: The Force Awakensvery successfully relaunched the franchise to the masses andRogue One: A Star Wars Storyproved that people really want to see more movies in a galaxy far, far away. With or without a Skywalker in them. That said,Star Wars: The Last Jediis probably going to appeal to more people out there, since there is at least one Skywalker in it. And the movie is fast approaching.
Disneypurchased all of LucasFilm for more than $4 billion back in 2012 with the intention of making a whole bunch of newStar Warsmovies. The centerpiece of those films is a new trilogy in the Skywalker saga, which kicked off withStar Wars: The Force Awakensand will continue later this year withStar Wars: The Last Jedi. As one would expect, many details about the movie are being kept under tight lock and key, but that hasn’t prevented us from learning quite a bit about the highly-anticipated sequel.
Star Wars 8looks like it is going to be starkly different than what we got withStar Wars: The Force Awakens.Adam Drivercompared it tonally toStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. That would logically follow, since both movies are the second installments of their respective trilogies. Considering that mostStar Warsfans considerThe Empire Strikes Backto be the greatestStar Warsmovie ever made, that should inspire some confidence as we move closer toStar Wars: The Last Jedi.
One thing we definitely know is that expectations forThe Last Jediwill be insanely high. Not only do fans expect great things from this movie for a variety of reasons, but Disney and Lucasfilm are going to have big expectations in terms of box office.Star Wars: The Force Awakenswas only the third movie to ever gross more than $2 billion worldwide. It also earned close to $1 billion of that domestically, which is an all-time record.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyalso managed to eclipse $1 billion worldwide, despite the fact that it featured almost entirely unknown characters. So withStar Wars: The Last Jedifocusing heavily on Luke Skywalker and other characters we know and love, expect this movie to be truly massive.
Disney and Lucasfilm will be pulling back the veil of secrecy in the near future, at least a little bit, as the release date forStar Wars: The Last Jediapproaches. But as it stands, we still know quite a bit about the movie. So, with that said, here is everything we know aboutStar Wars: The Last Jedi.
19Rian Johnson is writing and directing.
One might have expected that, given his resume and how successful thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenswas, that Disney and Lucasfilm would have practically beggedJ.J. Abramsto say on and directStar Wars Episode VIIIas well. That didn’t turn out to be the case and instead, it isRian Johnsonwho is responsible for the next chapter in the Skywalker saga. In fact,Star Wars: The Last Jediis really going to ride or die very largely based on his talents. Not only is he directing the movie, but he also wrote the script. That means whenStar Wars: The Last Jedicomes out, for the most part, your level of love or hate will rest heavily on his shoulders.
That said, this is not somethingStar Warsfans should be worried about. In fact, they should be excited.Rian Johnsonmay not be a household name, or at least he wasn’t before he nabbed this gig, but he has proven his talents time and time again. His movieBrickmade an impression on those who saw it, but it was his sci-fi flickLooperthat really put him on the map. Not only that, but he directed some of the best episodes ofBreaking Bad, which is well worth mentioning. Plus the originalStar Warstrilogy had a new director for each installment. For better or for worse, it wasGeorge Lucasdoing all three of the prequel movies.Star Wars: The Last Jediis inRian Johnson’s hands and, really any way you look at it, he seems to have very capable hands.
18Luke Skywalker plays a major role in the story.
Star Wars: The Force Awakenshad an awful lot to accomplish. It was the firstStar Warsmovie anyone had seen in more than a decade and it was the first in the Disney era. It had to be very good. That means it couldn’t do absolutely everything fans may have wanted it to do. Like, giveLuke Skywalkerany dialogue, for example’s sake. Granted, that cliffhanger has built up an awful lot of anticipation heading intoStar Wars: The Last Jediand, rest assured, Luke isn’t only going to talk, he is going to be a huge fixture of the movie. Most of the world hasn’t seen much if any footage fromStar Wars 8yet, but even those who have know that Luke at least talks. Plus, it has been said that Luke is going to be a main character in the movie. Which totally makes sense, given the title.
There is some debate over whatThe Last Jedimeans, but the credits inStar Wars: The Force Awakensrefer to him as such and Snoke calls him by that name as well. Not to mention thatMark Hamillwas on set for the entire shoot. That all points to Luke Skywalker getting a whole bunch of screen time inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. What he’ll be doing on screen? That is a bit more up in the air. He will surely be mentoring Rey, but fans are hopeful he will get to ignite his lightsaber and show off his probably improved Jedi skills. Who wouldn’t want to see that? In any case, bet on seeing a whole lot of Luke in this movie.
17Daisy Ridley will return as Rey.
There are certainly some criticisms that can be aimed atStar Wars: The Force Awakens, but it is hard to criticize the new cast members that were introduced.J.J. Abramsdid a great job of blending the old with the new and, more importantly, giving fans characters they can really care about moving forward.Daisy Ridleyas Rey is specifically someone fans really connected with, and looks to be our main focus of this new trilogy. SoDaisy Ridleyis definitely coming back inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. And she is going to be a huge part of it.
Possibly more than any other character that is going to be featured inStar Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker included, people want to know about Rey. Is she going to turn evil? What is she going to say to Luke? Why was she left on Jakku? And, probably most importantly, who are her parents?Daisy Ridleyis surely going to have her plate full inThe Last Jedi. She is surely going to be doing some Jedi training and she is probably going to have some pesky things to deal with. Like a very pissed off Kylo Ren, for one. He is known for his temper tantrums and, given how things left off between those two, we can assume he isn’t super happy with Rey at the moment. As theStar Warsfranchise progresses into the distant future, it is going to require us, as fans, loving new characters and with Rey, we have a character worth loving. So havingDaisy Ridleyback and learning more about Rey is an excellent reason to look forward toStar Wars: The Last Jedi.
16John Boyega is back as Finn.
For having a relatively small resume heading intoStar Wars: The Force Awakens,John Boyegawas able to make a very big impression as Finn, or FN-2187, if you will. Finn arguably had the most complex emotional arc inEpisode VIIand he will be an interesting character to watch inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. He bravely held off Kylo Ren until Rey was able to recover and put him out of commission, but Finn was injured badly in the fight. Rey had to leave before he fully recovered, so our two main heroes will be separated, at least for part of the story, inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. It isn’t clear what he’ll be doing while Rey is presumably off training to be a Jedi, but we can probably guess he’ll be on some kind of important mission for the Resistance. Either way, getting to see Finn in action a bit more will be fun and hopefully, we’ll get a little more depth to his already interesting character this time around.
15Oscar Isaac will continue to fly the skies as pilot Poe Dameron.
IfStar Wars: The Force Awakensdelivered us an heir apparent to Han Solo, it was most definitelyPoe Dameron. He was used sparsely, but he definitely made an impression. Lucky for us, the best pilot in the Resistance is coming back forStar Wars: The Last JediandOscar Isaacwill once again be the man playing him. Though, he is probably going to be sporting a new jacket, since he gave his old one to his bff Finn. It isn’t quite clear how meaty his role will be inStar Wars: The Last Jedi, but since he assaulted Starkiller base and helped off the First Order at Maz Kanata’s palace, not to mention his escape that prevented the First Order from getting the map to Luke, it seems like the bad guys aren’t going to be overly thrilled with him. Poe probably earned a great reputation among his peers, but the First Order will probably be out for revenge. No matter how he is used and no matter how much screen time Poe winds up with, having an actor likeOscar Isaacin your movie can only serve to benefit it. So having him around forStar Wars: The Last Jediis most definitely a good thing.
14Kylo Ren will be back to complete his Sith training.
Every great saga needs a great villain and this newStar Warstrilogy has one, or at least the makings of one, in the form of Kylo Ren.Adam Driverbrought a lot to the table as Kylo Ren inStar Wars: The Force Awakensand, lucky for fans, Rey left him alive, so he is coming back inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. We can safely assume that he is not going to be in the best of moods and he may be a little conflicted. Killing your own father is likely to do that to a person. We also know that he will have completed his training to become a Sith Lord, or he will be in the process of completing it, since Snoke said as much at the end ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens. We are probably going to be seeing a different Kylo Ren inStar Wars: The Last Jedi, but as with most things related to this movie, things are being kept very secret. Either way, after killing Han Solo, he is definitely the villain of this new trilogy, and fans will want justice. As will the Resistance.
13We’ll learn more about Snoke.
There are nearly countless questions heading intoStar Wars: The Last Jedi, but Supreme Leader Snoke remains incredibly mysterious and many of those questions have to do with him.Andy Serkis, as always, created a very compelling character with Snoke, but we know very little about him at this point. Is he actually someone familiar from theStar Warscanon? Is he actually a giant or was that just how his hologram was projected? We can assume that some of the mystery is going to be revealed inStar Wars: The Last Jedi, but even ifRian Johnsonwants to drive us all crazy and not answer a single thing, we know for sure that he will be in the movie. And we can pretty much bet that he won’t just be a hologram this time around. LEGO sets have revealed that Snoke will be wearing golden robes in this sequel. He’ll have a confrontation with General Leia. But Johnson has stated that Snoke won’t be the focal point of the story. And in all actuality, while we’ll have some secrets about Snoke revealed, he won’t actually get much screen time. He does have a couple of red armored guards by his side, who will, however, get to fight at least one battle. Which may be against Luke Skywalker in the epic climax.
12Captain Phasma survived the trash compactor.
Star Wars: The Force Awakensused the awesome looking Captain Phasma an awful lot in the marketing for the movie and, sadly, the character had very minimal screen time and really didn’t do all that much. ButGwendoline Christieis coming back forStar Wars: The Last Jediand, hopefully, we will get to see more of the rad Stormtrooper in action this time around. When we last sawCaptain Phasma, she had taken down the Starkiller base shield, which allowed the Resistance pilots to swoop in and destroy the oscillator. Then Finn and Han Solo threw her in a trash compactor. It looks like she made it off the planet before it blew up, but she will definitely be out for revenge and she probably won’t be in the good graces of the First Order. Characters like Boba Fett have garnered a lot of attention and love with minimal screen time over the years, but the difference is that they weren’t overly hyped up initially. Fans took to the characters on their own. Captain Phasma was hyped up a lot and was one of the few things that fell short inStar Wars: The Force Awakens.Gwendoline Christieis definitely capable of delivering on the awesomeness we were all hoping for, so hopefullyRian Johnsonfound a way to make up for the character’s shortcomings in the last entry.
11Lupita Nyong’o returns as Maz Kanata.
It isn’t yet clear if we will be seeing Yoda show up again in aStar Warsmovie, specifically in this new trilogy, so Rey and the gang need an old, wise alien to look to for wisdom. InStar Wars: The Force Awakens, that alien was Maz Kanata and it looks like that will also be the case inStar Wars: The Last Jedi.Lupita NYong’ois coming back to provide the voice and motion-capture for Maz Kanata again and, much likeAndy Serkisas Snoke, this is something we should definitely be looking forward to. Not only isLupita NYong’oa great actress, but Maz Kanata is an interesting character that we didn’t get to learn all that much about in the last movie. So getting to see her back inStar Wars: The Last Jediand probably learn a bit more about her history will be good forStar Warsfans. She may not wind up with all that much screen time, since this is a pretty crowded ensemble and it probably won’t be a crazy, 4-hour space epic. But Maz Kanata will be back in some capacity, that much is certain.
10New R2-D2, same old C-3PO.
What would aStar Warsmovie be without R2-D2 and C-3PO at this point? The droid duo has been featured in some capacity or another in every singleStar Warsmovie andStar Wars: The Last Jediwill be no different. However, as the franchise grows, some things will have to change. Sadly, we lost the original R2-D2 actorKenny Bakerlast year, so he won’t be able to make his mark on the latest entry in theStar Warssaga. However, things aren’t like they were back in the days ofStar Wars: A New Hope. An actor isn’t required to be in the suit at all times, but for the times one is needed, there is going to be a new actor portraying R2-D2 inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. That actor isJimmy Vee, who is best known for his work onDoctor WhoandHarry Potter. He even got to work withKenny Baker, so he should be able to fill those very big shoes just fine. But nobody can replaceKenny Bakerand his impact on the franchise can’t be understated.
As for C-3PO, expect the same droid we all know and love.Anthony Danielsis once again coming back to play the protocol droid inStar Wars 8. The franchise simply wouldn’t be the same without him. It isn’t clear how big the roles for R2-D2 or C-3PO will be this time around. R2-D2 had very minimal screen time (in operational mode, at least) inStar Wars: The Force Awakens, so we can assume that will change this time around. As for C-3PO, he had a decent chunk of screen time in the last entry, so who knows? Either way, they are both coming back and that is definitely a good thing.
