As soon as the long-awaited news of the title of Star Wars: Episode VIII was revealed, the internet went wild with fan theories about what it could mean. Did The Last Jedi refer to Luke? Rey? Leia? Or did it not refer to a singular Jedi at all and instead intended to be in the plural sense?
Well, as it turns out, the title was deliberately chosen to be mysterious and keep people guessing. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed that the moniker was made to be “intentionally ambiguous.” The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson also took part in the interview and explained the importance of that decision for him:
“That was the very first thing, when I had not even written the script. When I was coming up with the story, I had that title. So I’ve had that title in my head now for years. I was so terrified that someone would guess it—it seemed like an obvious title. Every time a fake title would leak, I would hold my breath and click on the link and be like, ‘Oh no, did they get it?’ But luckily, we were able to put it out clean.”
Johnson then discussed how fans might have been looking at things all wrong and that it isn’t a question of whether it refers to Luke or Rey.
“I never thought that [whether the title references Luke or Rey] was going to be the question. I guess partially because the answer—and this is going to sound like I’m being coy, but I swear I’m not—is, you do have to see the movie. It’s not as simple as saying, ‘It’s this person—ha-ha!’ It is a little more complicated than that. I guess I can say this, that when—no, I’m not going to say anything.”
Finally, the director gave us a starting point on how to interpret the title, based on the closing moments of The Force Awakens:
“One would think, let’s say this, that at the end of Episode VII it refers to Luke, because of the notion that this religion has died out and he is the last of them.”
We still have several months left until we find out the true meaning of the moniker, as Star Wars: The Last Jedi is released on December 15th, but it’s clear that it may not refer to what we think it does.
