Another day, another round of Star Wars: The Last Jedi rumors to sift through. And this latest one is a little out there, so stick with us.
First reported by The Cheat Sheet, reputable YouTuber Mike Zeroh has pieced together an intriguing report on the Force Tree, a cornerstone of Jedi lore that has been referenced multiple times across The Clone Wars, Shattered Empire and even the newly-launched animated series, Forces of Destiny. It’s a beacon of hope for the Jedi Order, essentially, and it’s said to play a prominent role in The Last Jedi as Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) begins his soul-searching after witnessing the destruction of his Jedi Academy at the hands of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
In fact, according to Zeroh’s findings, Disney has plans in place to construct a life-size replica of the Force Tree within Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which swings its gates open to the public in 2019. While there, attendees will be able to wander into the heart of the artificial sapling, and even hear voice recordings from notable Force Ghosts like Yoda and Anakin Skywalker.
This is where things get interesting. Going one step further, MovieWeb has linked to a number of previous rumors claiming that Frank Oz (Yoda) will make an appearance in The Last Jedi, while it’s worth keeping in mind that Hayden Christensen featured at the recent Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim. The actor, who played the part of Anakin Skywalker throughout the prequels, was in attendance to promote the franchise’s 40th anniversary, so this is by no means a confirmation that he’ll feature as a Force Ghost in Star Wars: The Last Jedi – but it’s intriguing nonetheless.
There is another thing to consider, too, and that’s the inclusion of audible cues in the sequel’s teaser trailer. If you’ll remember, the snippet opens with Rey drawing a line between the two sides of the Force, and it’s during these all-too-brief sequences that you’ll hear voice clips featuring Darth Vader’s breathing, Leia’s famous “help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” line, and Alec Guinness as the aforementioned Jedi.
Sadly, Carrie Fisher and Guinness are no longer with us – the former did complete all of her scenes before filming wrapped, mind you – so we’re more inclined to believe that of all the possible Force Ghosts, Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor will return as Anakin and the young Obi-Wan, respectively. That is assuming there’s any truth to today’s report, which is admittedly a bit of a stretch.
Dubbed the “perfect” sequel by Disney brass Bob Iger, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is expected to zoom into theatres on December 15th. Once Rian Johnson’s space opera has enjoyed its time in the sun (or should that be twin suns?), Disney and Lucasfilm will carve out room on the franchise’s ever-evolving timeline for a Han Solo origin story, before Colin Trevorrow cordially invites moviegoers back to the Skywalker saga in time for Episode IX in 2019 – May 24th, 2019, to be exact.