Star Wars: 10 Characters Who Could Be The Last Jedi

UPDATE: Reports are claiming that the title is actually plural, but Disney has not confirmed it yet. Despite being only ten months away now, we still know practically nothing about Rian Johnson's Episode VIII. Except, the title of the movie, that is, which knocked the internet off kilter when it was revealed the other week. Just what can we glean about the film from the moniker Star Wars: The Last Jedi, though? Unsurprisingly, the web has become rife with theories about who or what the title could be referring to. Does it mean a singular last Jedi or a bunch of them (Jedi is also the plural term - there's no such thing as Jedis)? Furthermore, do the titles of Episodes VI-IX form a sentence? The Force Awakens The Last Jedi.....? The list goes on and some of the stuff that people have come up with is pretty interesting. With just how much chatter there's been lately though, it'd be easy to lose track of all the theories. Lucky for you then, we've compiled a handy guide of all the major suspects in regards to who the title could refer to, in order of the least likely to the most obvious. Take a look at what speculation is pointing towards and feel free to drop us a comment in the usual place letting us know your own thoughts on what The Last Jedi might mean. 10) Jedidiah To start with, here's one candidate we're willing to bet money is not the last Jedi. However, we'd be remiss if we didn't at least give him a mention. When Episode VIII's title was announced, hardcore fans recalled issue #49 of Marvel's old Star Wars comic book series. Published in 1981, it was called, wouldn't you know it, The Last Jedi. So, coincidence... or not? Fuel was added to the rumour mill when Star Wars story development executive Pablo Hidalgo (often called "the Yoda of Lucasfilm") posted the cover of the comic on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/823566864005484544 We're not sure we should read too much into this, however, as Hidalgo has a history of teasing and trolling the fans. Besides, the issue itself is pretty odd. In the story, Luke encounters a simple-minded alien called Jedidiah who, before a tragic accident caused him to suffer from brain damage, was once signed up to train as a Jedi knight. When Luke's in trouble, Jedi - as is his nickname - sacrifices himself to save the boy. Despite the similarity of the titles, it's fair to say that it would take quite a mental leap to imagine that Disney and Lucasfilm are really about to base their next movie on this strange obscure comic (a Jedi called Jedidiah? Really?). 9) Ferus Olin Here's another potential last Jedi who's very unlikely to have anything to do with the film, but we feel we should mention him regardless. Star Wars: The Last of the Jedi was a ten-book series for young adult readers written by Jude Watson. First of all, the series' title isn't strictly accurate, as the books take place during Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Meaning that Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi are the real last Jedi knights at the time. Anyways, The Last of the Jedi follows Ferus Olin, a young former Padawan who leads a rebel organization against the Empire. Across the series, he trains under Obi-Wan, acts as a double agent for Emperor Palpatine and serves as a guardian for Princess Leia on Alderaan. Oh, and he's eventually killed by Darth Vader. Basically, he's the Star Wars version of Forest Gump. The obvious reason why Ferus is unlikely to appear in The Last Jedi is that he's from a completely different part of history. It's much more likely that, if he is to make the leap to the screen, he turn up on Star Wars Rebels at some point. 8) Jax Pavan That's still not it for characters who've been called the last Jedi in the Star Wars expanded universe (or Star Wars Legends, as it's now known), though. There's one more left. In 2013, Star Wars: The Last Jedi from Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff riffed on the same concept as the earlier Last of the Jedi series. The novel followed Jax Pavan, a humanoid Jedi knight who escaped the destruction of the Jedi order by laying low as a private investigator on Coruscant. He also discovers the true identity of Darth Vader, which causes the Sith Lord to attempt to hunt him down. While Pavan is perhaps a more dynamic character (a Jedi detective - you have to admit that's cool), it would also be a stretch to see him appearing in the movie for many of the same reasons as Ferus Olin. For instance, the differing time period and obscurity. However, he does live to see another day at the end of the novel, so The Last Jedi could potentially depict him as an old man hiding out in the universe somewhere - much like Luke. 7) Ezra Bridger A juicy new fan theory has erupted amongst Star Wars fans this week, and it's worth discussing. You might know that Benicio Del Toro has a role in The Last Jedi. Up to now, however, the identity of his character has been shrouded in secrecy. According to theorists, though, that's because he's really portraying an older, live-action version of Ezra Bridger - the star of animated series Star Wars Rebels. And, get this, it'll be revealed that Ezra is Rey's father! We'll give you a minute to digest all that. This seems like a lot of wishful thinking on fans' part, but it would show an impressive level of interconnectivity between the Star Wars movies and TV shows. Not to mention a nice switch with the identity of Rey's parents (as it's often theorized that she's a Skywalker or a Solo). If this is indeed the case, though, then Ezra's Force powers would make him at least one of the last Jedi referred to in the title. 6) Finn You might recall that in the big climax of The Force Awakens, Finn managed to hold his own for a short while in a lightsaber battle with Kylo Ren. Many fans were surprised by this since Ren is a well-trained Force-user and Finn was a rookie Stormtrooper not so long ago. This has led some to believe that he has latent Force powers which could be harnessed in future movies. So, perhaps he joins Luke and Rey in their new fledgling order of Jedi? This is a possibility, as the idea of Finn going from a lowly Imperial soldier to becoming a Jedi Knight would be a fascinating and transformative character arc for him to have. However, there are other ways to explain his skill with a lightsaber, such as his Stormtrooper training with weaponry. Besides, we all know that the future we really want for Finn is for him to get together with Poe Dameron. If that doesn't happen, half the internet is going to be very disappointed. 5) Leia The issue of Leia's latent Force-sensitivity has long been a hot source of discussion for Star Wars fans. As the daughter of Vader, she must have it in her to become a Jedi knight herself. Luke even tells her as much in Return of the Jedi. “You have that power, too," he says. "In time you’ll learn to use it as I have. The Force is strong in my family. My father has it, I have it, and my sister has it.” So, will The Last Jedi finally see Leia claim her birthright? The big spanner in the works of this theory is the tragic death of Carrie Fisher last December. Lucasfilm issued a statement that they would not be recreating Fisher's likeness with CGI in the following Episode IX, suggesting that the character of Leia can be cut out of the film without too much problem. If Leia really was to become a Jedi, then she would no doubt have a major role in that movie, too, right? 4) Supreme Leader Snoke Ever since the massive and mysterious new master of evil reared his ugly head in The Force Awakens, pretty much every Star Wars fan has come up with their own theory as to his true identity. Could he be a resurrected Palpatine? Darth Plageus? Or even Darth Vader? Or maybe he's that Stormtrooper who infamously bumped his head on a door? Alternatively, might he just be the last Jedi? One Redditor has theorized that Snoke is actually the last of the original ancient order of Jedi, who were perhaps very different from the good guys of today. According to the theory, the introduction of the Jedi's ancestral homeworld of Jedha in Rogue One and Luke's mission to find the original Jedi temple are all cleverly-placed foreshadowing that's intended to set us up for this big reveal about the Jedi's origins. It's an intriguing theory, to be sure, and one just as valid as all the other varying Snoke explanations (except the one where he's Mace Windu, that's just plain dumb). 3) Kylo And The Knights Of Ren One of the big plot points that The Force Awakens left dangling was the mystery about the Knights of Ren. By piecing together what we know about Ben Solo's turn to the dark side, we can assume that he led the Knights of Ren to slaughter Luke's Jedi academy. But is that really what happened? One theory goes that the Knights of Ren are not actually the murderers of Luke's Jedi students but actually are those same students. Not only did Snoke entice Ben Solo, Luke's nephew, to the Dark Side, but he also got to the entire school and turned them against their Jedi master. This would certainly explain why Luke is so crushed by what happened, if every single one of his students went evil. Also, in this way the Knights would be the last of the Jedi - only corrupted and turned away from the light. It definitely feels like there's a big reveal about the Knights of Ren to come, and this tragic twist would definitely live up to the level of mystery surrounding them at the moment. 2) Rey One of two characters that immediately sprung to mind when thinking about who The Last Jedi could refer to is Rey. After living her life as a scrappy orphan on Jakku, Rey found out that she had an incredible amount of raw talent in the ways of the Force. In fact, the movie's title The Force Awakens probably refers to her. It doesn't take a large leap of the imagination, then, to assume that the next stage of her journey is to train under Luke and become a Jedi. And, assuming that The Last Jedi borrows as much from the original trilogy as much as Force Awakens did, then Luke will die at the end of the movie - leaving Rey as the true last Jedi. This is so obvious an idea that we really hope there's more to it than that. Many fans complained about how shamelessly Episode VII pilfered plot elements from A New Hope, so for the next movie to be just as reliant on the past would really infuriate many. 1) Luke Skywalker Of course, the number one name on the list of contenders for the title of The Last Jedi has to be Luke Skywalker himself. After Rey tracked Luke down at the end of The Force Awakens, it would make sense for the next movie to announce the return of the saga's original star by being named after him. The biggest piece of evidence for the title referring to Luke is that Yoda himself called him "the last Jedi" in Return of the Jedi: "Luke, when gone am I, the last of the Jedi will you be. Luke, the Force runs strong in your family. Pass on what you have learned, Luke.” As we've already said, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will no doubt see Luke finally do as Yoda said and train up a new Jedi - most likely Rey. Borrowing from that quote for the title of the movie then would be a nice way of referencing the fact that Luke has now come full circle in his training. Tell us, what do you think the mysterious title might mean? Take to the comments section and share your theories!