WARNING! THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!
For 40 years, Star Wars has delighted fans of all ages from around the world. George Lucas crafted a stellar piece of space opera that shattered box-office records and remains one of the greatest films ever made and changed the way movies were made. The first sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, is regarded as one of the greatest sequels of all time. The Original Trilogy would come to a satisfying close with Return of the Jedi. But this would not be the last time George Lucas would visit the galaxy so far, far away. In the summer of 1999, the first of the Prequel Trilogy was released: The Phantom Menace. Attack of the Clones would follow three years later and capping off with the darkest entry in the series to date: Revenge of the Sith. After Episode III was completed, Mr. Lucas declared that there would be no more movies. 7 years later, he sells his company and the Star Wars franchise to Disney for 4 million bucks. The possibility of a seventh Star Wars film was irresistible. 5 years after that, we have our first film in a new trilogy: The Force Awakens, which would re-united the old cast members from the Original Trilogy: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher. Introducing new characters such as Kylo Ren, Finn, Poe Dameron, Captain Phasma, and lovable droid BB8, The Force Awakens blasted onto movie screens in December of 2015. With a record-breaking release, Episode VII began to take the franchise in a new direction. With the success of Episode VII, production would soon begin on the next film in the trilogy. Also in production was the first in a new series of spin-offs and stand-alone films in the franchise: Rogue One. But the film that is one everybody’s wishlist this year is The Last Jedi, the second film in the new trilogy.
After the death of Han Solo at the hands of his son, Kylo Ren, Rey confronts Ren in a vicious lightsaber battle that Rey would win by tapping into the Force. After the destruction of Starkiller Base, Rey would take the Millenium Falcon and Chewbacca and find Luke Skywalker on a distant and unknown planet. At this point, the main story for The Last Jedi is still spotty, but Rey begins her training as a Jedi, despite Luke’s failure with Kylo Ren in the past. While the main purpose for Luke being on this particular planet is unknown at this point, it’s been widely assumed that he was looking for some specific artifact or knowledge in order to confront Supreme Leader Snoke. At the same time, The First Order is moving to annihilate what remains of the Republic and the Resistance. This is the entry where answers will start being answered, like who Rey is and who her parents were/are. While I’m certain that some answers will be given, others will remain secret until Episode IX. The trailer that just dropped looks amazing. It looks like this film is going to be much different than I was anticipating, which is a good thing. Episode VIII is reportedly going to be the longest entry in the entire series, so there must be an incredible amount of story that was written for this particular entry. Ultimately, I’m very curious as to what happens and why Luke said that it was time for the Jedi to end. It’s very ominous and could mean several things. Maybe that what he was taught by Kenobi and Yoda is incorrect and has been for thousands of years. In both trailers for Episode VIII, we see a table with a number of books on it. This is the first time that we’ve seen books in the the films, tv series, and video games. Did Luke find what he was looking for? Or did he find something that scares him? Who, or what, is Supreme Leader Snoke? As I said before, I doubt that The Last Jedi will answer all these questions, but hopefully it will point us in the right direction.
Sadly, as everybody knows, Carrie Fisher passed away in December of 2016. She finished her scenes for Episode VIII, but she was slated to have a more involved role in Episode IX. As a result, Episode IX is in the process of being re-written. I’m wondering how they are going to address this issue. The can’t recast the role, as Leia is Carrie’s most famous and iconic role. They won’t do a CGI character, because there’s no way they could get anyone who could perform the character as well as Carrie. However, they can’t exactly have her riding off into the sunset, so to speak. The only real way that I know of to give the character a proper send-off is ultimately to kill her. But how do you do that so you can not only give the character and Carrie Fisher a proper send-off, but respect the fans as well? Ultimately, the film is two years away, so they will have to time to properly address that issue. Carrie’s passing will ultimately still cast a shadow over the film, no matter what they do. I just hope that they are respectful to the character, because both Leia and Carrie have meant so much to so many people.
After Episode IX, where do we go from here? Next year, we will be seeing a stand-alone origin story for Han Solo, which has undergone some directorial changes, but hopefully will flesh out the character a bit more. Before Episode VIII hits theaters in two months, we will be getting a new Star Wars video game: Battlefront II. The new single-player campaign is supposed to take place from the perspective of the Empire/First Order. Also, over the next few years, we will be seeing more books and video games. The movies will hopefully be about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Boba Fett, at least, from what I’ve been reading. I’m not sure how much of that is true, but it looks like the next few years will be very interesting for Star Wars. That includes a new season for Star Wars: Rebels and a possible live-action series set between Episodes III and IV. At this point, it’s mostly speculation on my part, but I have to say: As a fan, I couldn’t be more excited for more Star Wars. Star Wars: The Last Jedi flies into theaters on December 15, 2017. I hope you’re all as excited about it as I am.