It has been a very long time since I was able to tear myself away and write one of these articles so thank you for bearing with us over the busy winter months. I thought the latest Star Wars related reveal by Disney and director Rian Johnson enabled a perfect return for these weekly articles. We are here to talk about the newly announced title for Star Wars Episode VIII, what that could mean going forward and the storyline it could lead to.
The Last Jedi is a great title in my opinion. I was rather neutral on The Force Awakens title but The Last Jedi feels more in keeping with the feel of the original trilogy. It also has a number of possibilities. Most commentators have jumped to the assumption that Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, will teach Daisy Ridley’s Rey how to be a Jedi and then promptly kick the bucket Yoda style. I can see the thought behind this, The Force Awakens after all mirrored a lot of themes and scenarios from the original trilogy and SPOILER ALERT, Han plunged to his doom too.
I think a more likely scenario is that the title is intentionally misleading. Jedi is the plural of Jedi so could easily refer to both Rey and Luke without either of them having to die. This film could be the start of a new Jedi school, a defiant defence against the growing threat of Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo and the shadowy Knights of Ren. Personally, I think they’ll wait a few films to introduce more Jedi but who really knows?
Another far wilder but more interesting theory is that Luke, after years of being close to the Dark Side by association, falls prey to it; and, why wouldn’t he? It took his Dad, his mentor, his students and his best friend. This plot twist has at least some precedent. Many years ago, in a galaxy pretty close by on a show called An Evening with Kevin Smith, Mark Hamill actually said he wanted Luke to have a plot progression where he was taken to the Dark Side. What do you think? Would you like to see everyone’s favourite good guy farm boy throw on his black robes?
In a recent interview with Chris Hardwick on the Nerdist Podcast Mark Hamill stated that he didn’t know his role in The Force Awakens would be small into he was well into his fitness regime. Could this mean there was more footage taken but not used that we’ll see in The Last Jedi? Only time will tell.
James Bowers
Celebrity Cutouts
