Luke Skywalker has seen better days.
Last we checked in on Mark Hamill’s Tatooine farmboy, he had helped conquer the Galactic Empire and restore peace and prosperity to Lucasfilm’s galaxy far, far away. But after his capricious nephew, Ben Solo, ruined any hopes of a Jedi Academy, Luke retreated to the safety of Ahch-To, and has spent the majority of time between Jedi and The Force Awakens in a state of exile – until Daisy Ridley’s Rey shows up out of the blue with lightsaber in hand, that is.
And that’s where Star Wars: The Last Jedi begins. With the vulnerable Resistance still licking its wounds from the battle for Starkiller Base, not to mention the fact that the First Order has beefed up its arsenal quite considerably under the command of Supreme Leader Snoke, our heroes need Luke Skywalker now more than ever.
But it seems Kylo Ren’s turn to the dark side has really done a number on Mark Hamill’s jaded Jedi, after the actor told Russian website Mirf.ru (via Reddit user ‘Robitical712’) that The Last Jedi is about to uncover a new side of the great Luke Skywalker.
And then, when I offered some ideas, I was often told that it was already in a book or a comic book. And the studio wanted to show Luke the way he had never been seen before.
A lot has transpired since the Rebel Alliance achieved victory in Return of the Jedi, and Luke’s world-weary outlook was even teased in April’s all-too-brief promo, when Hamill’s hero hinted that the Jedi we know and love are fast approaching the end of their tether. Say it ain’t so!
Per Reddit:
From The Force Awakens you know what fate befell the Jedi Academy, where Luke was preparing a new generation of Knights, and that his nephew turned to the Dark Side of the Force and murdered other disciples. I guess Luke was dumbfounded and broken, which forced him to go into exile. Of course, this is only a small fraction of what happened to him in the years between Return of the Jedi and Episode VIII, and I cannot tell anything more about those times. But I think you will learn the details from the upcoming episode.
All will be revealed when Star Wars: The Last Jedi zooms into theaters on December 15th. Word is Rian Johnson and Co. have rustled up a cliffhanger ending – not unlike Empire – which ought to leave Star Wars fans on edge right up until the launch of Episode IX in 2019. And that’s December 2019, after Lucasfilm chose to delay its threequel soon after the swift appointment of J.J. Abrams.
