“Luke Skywalker has vanished.”
That’s the deeply unsettling line that opened the crawl to The Force Awakens, when Mark Hamill’s wise old Jedi had entered a self-imposed exile soon after the destruction of his Jedi Academy – at the corrupt hands of Kylo Ren, no less. But if Luke’s involvement in the 2015 blockbuster was limited to a mere voiceless cameo, then this year’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi will herald the moment Star Wars fans have been longing for: Luke Skywalker returning to the fray.
It’ll take time, of course, and based on comments made by Rian Johnson, the initial exchange between Rey and her newfound teacher will be a tense, steely affair. But it appears that once Luke steps out of isolation – and, by effect, off the far-flung planet of Ahch-To – he’ll pay a visit to the Las Vegas-like casino city of Canto Bight.
As part of GQ’s ongoing cover story (via ComicBook.com), which also brought forth intriguing new details about Harrison Ford and his own spell in the franchise, Mark Hamill touched on the mystery that is Canto Bight.
The ones that are further away from people in costumes are the most fascinating. Those puppeteers are just amazing. There’s a scene in Episode IX where, it’ll blow your mind. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a set that opulent in my life.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that Hamill may well be referring to a time when he paid a visit to the opulent Canto Bight set, as opposed to confirming Luke’s presence in the so-called “city for rich assholes.” Perhaps he’ll be roped into Finn and Rose’s dark mission?
There were 150 extras, wardrobe, makeup, prosthetics, puppets. I’m not giving anything away, because [writer/director] Rian [Johnson] talked about a casino, and that’s what this is. Michael Kaplan designed all the wardrobe and variations of black and white and it was just breathtaking. You think, ‘Jeez, this set alone could probably finance about 30 low budget features.’
From the hulking gorilla walkers to those delightful, “inquisitive” porgs, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will open up a whole new chapter in Lucasfilm’s Skywalker saga. And it’ll be with us on December 15th.
