Ever since the full title forStar Wars 8was revealed back in January, there has been one huge question on the minds ofStar Warsfans the world over: who isThe Last Jedi? There have been countless theories, pointing to the obvious choice (Luke Skywalker) to more off-the-wall picks (Supreme Leader Snoke), but now director Rian Johnson makes it abundantly clear in a new interview thatThe Last Jediis in fact Luke Skywalker… for now. Here’s what the director had to say in a recent interview, confirming that it was inThe Force Awakensopening crawl all along, revealing Luke Skywalker asThe Last Jedi.
It’s in the opening crawl ofThe Force Awakens. Luke Skywalker, right now, isThe Last Jedi. There’s always wiggle room in these movies, everything is from a certain point of view, but coming into our story, he is the actual last of the Jedi. And he’s removed himself and is alone on this island, for reasons unknown."
The director revealed this information in an interview withThe New York Times, which he gave after completing the sound mix for this highly-anticipated adventure. Many had pointed out the reveal fromThe Force Awakensthat Luke Skywalker isThe Last Jedi, but the most interesting part of the quote from this interview is that “right now,” Luke Skywalker isThe Last Jedi, which could mean Luke’s status asThe Last Jedicould change, likely due to his training of Rey (Daisy Ridley), but it also leads to another potentially interesting point.
Rian Johnson revealed in previous interviews duringStar Wars Celebrationthat he had never even considered that the phraseThe Last Jedicould be plural, and that, in his mind,The Last Jedihas always been a singular person. We know there is an element of training involved between Luke and Rey in the movie, but perhaps her training does not get completed, a theory that falls in line with an earlier rumor that Rey abandons her training with Luke to go save her friends Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega). It’s possible that she could then return to complete her training betweenThe Last JediandStar Wars 9, but another possibility could be that Rey completes her training in this movie, and becomesThe Last Jedibefore Luke Skywalker is killed off.
That is just a theory at this point, especially since Mark Hamill confirmed on social media last summer that Luke Skywalker will be back forStar Wars 9. Still, even if he does return, it could be as a Force ghost, guiding Rey along her journey in this final installment of the newStar Warstrilogy. There is no question that, whenStar Wars: The Last Jedibegins, Luke Skywalker is, without a doubt, 100%, the actualLast Jedi. The bigger question that remains is, who will beThe Last Jediremaining when the movie ends? Will it still be Luke? Or will Rey take over that mantle? We’ll find out whenStar Wars: The Last Jedihits theaters on December 15.
