One of the more intriguing supporting characters introduced in The Force Awakens was Maz Kanata. The wise old woman, played by Lupita Nyong’o, was shown to have a lot of knowledge on the Force and the ways of the Jedi. Notably, she had Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber in her possession until she handed it over to Rey. It was surprising, then, to learn recently that Maz will have a reduced role in the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
That’s not to say she won’t be important to the story though. Far from it, in fact, as we’ve now discovered how she’ll factor into things and as was teased earlier, she’ll be crucial in helping the Resistance. Coming to us from Making Star Wars, this remains unconfirmed at the moment, but according to them, a Find the Force promotion has now revealed what Maz will be up to in The Last Jedi, and here’s what they’ve learned.
“She introduces the Resistance to DJ. She helps the Resistance by pointing them toward a ‘mysterious new ally.’ Maz has been forced to become more mobile and take more of a role in the criminal underworld.”
Of course, as we found out a while back, DJ (played by Benicio del Toro) is an “enigmatic figure” replete with a “lackadaisical attitude.” According to John Boyega, he also doesn’t take sides. Speaking to EW a few weeks ago, the actor had this to say about the character.
We just need a codebreaker and he’s the best in the galaxy. Unfortunately, he’s very dodgy and only in it for financial gain. He doesn’t fight for any side. He has distinct opinions. The Resistance bombs the First Order one day, the First Order bombs the Resistance on another. It’s an ongoing war that will never end. For him, he’s trying to benefit off of that — which doesn’t make him the person you want to trust.
Sounds intriguing, right? As for Maz, well, it’s certainly disappointing that Lucasfilm seems to be wasting an interesting character by reducing her role, but at least she’ll still be of some importance. And who knows? Perhaps she’ll go on to play a bigger part in Episode IX? Time will tell.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi lights up theaters on December 15th and is one of three major Star Wars projects in active development – the other two being Lucasfilm’s Han Solo origin story and the so-far untitled Episode IX. An Obi-Wan Kenobi spinoff is also on the cards (finally!), though given it’s still in search of a writer and script, it’ll be sometime yet before Stewjon’s wise old Jedi Master returns to the fray.
