Star Wars: The Last Jedi has something special to set up Episode IX

Star Wars: The Last Jedi not only has to tell a story of its own, it has set up the third movie in the trilogy, and that’s already been discussed.

With six months to go until Star Wars: The Last Jedi finally arrives, fans can’t help but want to know as much as they possibly can before going into the movie. That extends to both how the film will set up Episode IX as well as what sorts of reveals we’ll get just in this movie.

To make the almost-inevitable comparison, The Last Jedi is in the toughest spot of the trilogy. The Empire Strikes Back lives up to its dark name. Remember that Han Solo and Princess Leia’s famous exchange comes before he’s frozen in carbonite. Meanwhile there’s also the Cloud City confrontation between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, ending in that exchange.

You know the one, but here it is because it’s Monday:

With The Last Jedi trailer already seeming to indicate that characters will split up like Empire, it’s fair to ask what other parallels we may see.

Indeed, these sorts of set-ups build excitement for the next movie, and the production’s very aware of that. According to Star Wars News Net, citing a podcast appearance on Happy Sad Confused, Colin Trevorrow (still the director of Episode IX) has even asked Rian Johnson for a particular one in The Last Jedi.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t specify what that is. SWNN’s transcription points out that Trevorrow only calls it a “little thing” that also “wasn’t an adjustment”.

This could be anything from a throwaway line to several lines. SWNN goes so far as to say it’s an extra scene entirely. However, Trevorrow’s words sound like whatever this is isn’t all that large. It does mean, however, that fans will probably want to pick the whole movie apart even more than usual.

Next: Can we trust Colin Trevorrow with Star Wars Episode IX?

Theories about Rey’s parentage have continued to consume certain parts of the fandom for nearly two years at this point. We fully expect that The Last Jedi will spark the same debates between itself and Episode IX‘s release.