Star Wars 8: 8 amazing things we just learned about The Last Jedi

Vanity Fair’s preview of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ just landed online, along with a new batch of photos which have fans chattering with excitement (first look at Laura Dern and Benico Del Toro!) and wiping away a few tears (final photos of Carrie Fisher alongside Mark Hamill, and her daughter Billie Lourd).

Naturally, the expansive article features more than few eye-catching snippets of information about the upcoming eighth instalment in the iconic space opera, which should give us all plenty to chew on in the 29 weeks until it hits screens.

Here are eight key things which caught our attention, with some spoilers for ‘The Force Awakens’…

Hard times ahead

It was widely remarked (sometimes as a slur) that ‘The Force Awakens’ adhered closely to the structure of the original 1977 ‘Star Wars’ AKA ‘A New Hope,’ so it’s hardly surprising that ‘The Last Jedi’ might have a bit of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ about it. Writer-director Rian Johnson says he set out to “knock the stool out from under” our new heroes Rey, Finn and Poe: “I started by writing the names of each of the characters, and thinking, What’s the hardest thing they could be faced with?”

It’s dark times for those on the Dark Side too, as Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver remarks, “I feel like almost everyone is in that rehabilitation state. You know, I don’t think that patricide is all that it’s cracked up to be. Maybe that’s where Kylo Ren is starting from. His external scar is probably as much an internal one.”

Luke is not alone on that island

‘The Force Awakens’ saw Han Solo speculate that the missing Luke Skywalker had gone out into space to find the original Jedi temple. It is now confirmed that he was successful, and this was indeed where Rey met him in the climax of ‘The Force Awakens.’

However, whilst he may have appeared to be completely alone from that final scene, this is not the case. The article tell us that Hamill’s Skywalker “has been living in this village among an indigenous race of caretaker creatures,” of which Rian Johnson declined to say much more, other than to stress that they are “not Ewoks.”

Is Benico Del Toro a Darth?

While the Vanity Fair shoot gives us our first look at Benico Del Toro in costume, his character remains mysterious. We’re told he’s a “shady character” with “unclear allegiances,” and at present he is referred to only as DJ: Rian Johnson hints there’s “a reason” for this. Now, in ‘Star Wars,’ a first initial D tends to stand for ‘Darth’ something… could this be a hint to the past of Del Toro’s character?

Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose is a major player

Vanity Fair confirm rumours that Rose Tico, the new character played by Kelly Marie Tran, is a key figure in ‘The Last Jedi.’ Described as “the largest new part,” her young maintenance worker teams up with John Boyega’s Finn on “a mission behind enemy lines.” Rose has brought family with her, too…

Veronica Ngo plays a Resistance gunner

Another of the new characters in the movie is Rose’s sister Paige, played by Veronica Ngo. She’ll not only be a newcomer to the series but a newcomer to the Resistance itself, as reportedly we’ll see Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron “coaching” her as a gunner. Nor is she the only female character Poe will be having close contact with…

Carrie Fisher repeatedly slapped Oscar Isaac during filming

It’s long been claimed that the late Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa will have a larger role to play in ‘The Last Jedi’ than she had in ‘The Force Awakens,’ and it sounds like she gets a bit more hands-on, literally. Oscar Isaac reveals, “We did this scene where Carrie has to slap me. I think we did 27 takes in all, and Carrie leaned into it every time, man. She loved hitting me. Rian found such a wonderful way of working with her, and I think she really relished it.”

New worlds

Naturally, a new ‘Star Wars’ movie means all manner of new worlds to explore, and we’re told one of the key ones is Canto Bight, which sounds quite unlike any place we’ve seen in the series before, as it’s a ‘casino planet.’ Johnson describes it as “a ‘Star Wars’ Monte Carlo–type environment, a little James Bond–ish, a little ‘To Catch a Thief,’” filled with “luxury and wealth.” Very much the antithesis of Tatooine and Jakku, then.

Carrie Fisher’s final moments on set

It’s inevitable that an air of melancholy will accompany ‘The Last Jedi,’ given the tragic, unexpected death of Carrie Fisher at Christmas 2016. Happily, the late actress had filmed all her scenes for the eighth ‘Star Wars’ movie, but producer Kathleen Kennedy admits they’re still figuring out how to do the ninth film without her, as Leia had been intended to have a central role in the trilogy closer.

Recalling Fisher’s last day of shooting, Kennedy says, “The minute she finished, she grabbed me and said, ‘I’d better be at the forefront of IX!’ Because Harrison was front and center on VII, and Mark is front and center on VIII. She thought IX would be her movie. And it would have been.””

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ opens in UK cinemas on 15 December.

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