Rumor: Darth Vader Referenced In Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Between them, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) are undoubtedly the big bads of Lucasfilm’s current Star Wars trilogy – not unlike Darth Vader and the irredeemable Emperor Palpatine (AKA Darth Sidious) before them.

Following their back-to-back introduction in The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm and writer-director Rian Johnson are about to delve deeper into each respective antagonist with the launch of Star Wars: The Last Jedi in December, and we couldn’t be more excited. But could there be another iconic villain from that galaxy far, far away involved in the upcoming sequel as well?

File this one firmly under the rumor category for now, but ComicBook.com is reporting that YouTuber Mike Zeroh (known for his scoops – a lot of which do pan out), has revealed that an “anonymous source at Pinewood Studios” has told him that Vader will be referenced several times throughout the course of the film. From what we understand, the Sith Lord won’t actually be shown physically, but a few of the characters will bring him up.

Firstly, we’re being told that he’s mentioned in a conversation between General Organa and Vice Admiral Holdo, while both Snoke and Luke will talk about the baddie as well. The former brings him up to Kylo, while Skywalker discusses Vader with Rey. As for that chat between Leia and Holdo, though, here’s what Mike Zeroh had to say:

“Holdo reminds Leia who her father really was and how he destroyed her son indirectly. Holdo mocks Leia countless times, leading to them separating and splitting the Resistance into two teams with Poe Dameron following Leia.”

Sounds intriguing, right? No further details were given, but this is far from the first time rumors have popped up linking Darth Vader to the film in some way, so this isn’t too difficult to believe. That being said, we’d still advise taking it with a grain of salt until we get something a bit more concrete.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will see release on December 15th. So far, Disney and Lucasfilm have only shared that one teaser for Rian Johnson’s blockbuster, so we imagine a full-length trailer is in the can for either September or October. Stay tuned for more.