If you want to know what’s going to happen in Star Wars The Last Jedi this December, look no further than 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.
Among all the glorious Entertainment Weekly coverage of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where we learned next to nothing new but enjoyed a lot of cute new pictures, The Last Jedi‘s director Rian Johnson quietly admitted something interesting.
As everyone quickly compared The Force Awakens to A New Hope, Johnson said of The Last Jedi:
"But look, Rey is off in a remote location with a Jedi master, and the Resistance is in a tough spot, and we’re intercutting those stories. By its very nature, there are some structural parallels."
If you think about the major plotpoints of The Empire Strikes Back and what we know about The Last Jedi from the trailer, the behind-the-scenes reel, and these new scoops, one almost feels like they can piece together the whole movie.
So if you want to stay away from spoilers or don’t want to dive in, turn back now.
The Empire Strikes Back began on Hoth, where Han Solo and Chewie anxiously prepared the Millennium Falcon for their departure. Han Solo repeatedly made it clear he wanted to get off the planet and leave the Rebellion behind. According to John Boyega, Finn will feel the same sentiment.
"“And he just wants to get away and not be involved. His intention in the first place was to go to the Outer Rim. He was always brought back [in The Force Awakens,], but this is his chance to get away and perhaps find Rey and go off together. He’s trying to do that at first.”"
Like Han, Finn saw the war face to face, became instrumental in delivering a major blow to the Empire’s forces and still wants to leave. Being rescued and making friends didn’t do anything to persuade him otherwise. He didn’t have a lot of time to waste, considering his debt to Jabba the Hutt. Of course, it helped that there was a woman out there trying to change his mind. For Han, it was Leia. But for Finn, it will be newcomer Rose Tico.
"“It’s now an opportunity for him to be the best he can be. He has to make a decision, and Rose is there to help him make that choice.”"
Meanwhile, our primary hero will go in a different direction. While Rose and Finn go on their adventure, Rey travels to Ahch-To, just like Luke went to Dagobah. They’re both in search of answers and someone who can train them to understand the Force a little better. Though Johnson says the characters will face new obstacles, it’s worth noting that Luke will be hesitant, if not resistant, to helping Rey. And let’s not forget that Yoda wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit to get a new padawan either. Will Luke change his mind when someone calls to him beyond the grave just like Yoda agreed only at Obi-Wan’s behest?
In a separate interview, Daisy Ridley puts Luke’s hesitance pretty plainly:
"“I don’t think one girl, who he doesn’t know, turning up with a lightsaber is gonna make him go, ‘Oh, s—, yeah, of course I’ll get back into the action.”"
Again, from the footage, we know, at the very least, he’s going to make her do a few laps around the island.
Okay, back to Empire Strikes Back … what happens next?
Star Wars: The Last Jedi Official Teaser Image via Disney/Lucasfilm.
Oh, yeah. The heroes are attacked and flee elsewhere to do some investigating and/or recuperating. Instead of Cloud City, we now have Canto Bight. At this “casino metropolis,” Finn and Rose will likely run into Laura Dern and Benicio Del Toro‘s characters. And we’ll maybe even see them tricked into attending a tea party hosted by Kylo Ren.
The Empire Strikes Back also introduced Boba Fett, so we’re going to need a bounty hunter of some sort, too. Like an ancillary bad guy. Could that be Justin Theroux’s cameo or Del Toro’s DJ, the slicer?
Either way, we do know that Rey will return to the Resistance, with or without Luke Skywalker in tow. But will it be because Finn is in trouble, or perhaps even General Leia? If it turns out there’s a big space battle, they’re going to need the Millennium Falcon to save someone at the last minute, just like Lando Calrissian and Princess Leia returned to save Luke Skywalker.
Considering the gap between what we know right now and what we still need to uncover, expect a generous helping of confrontations that have something to do with, “oh yeah, we’re related, forgot to tell you,” and a possible loss of limb.
And another thing…
Aside from the obvious plot coherence, let’s talk about the lasting legacy of The Empire Strikes Back. Often chosen as many Star Wars fans’ favorite film of the saga, The Empire Strikes Back endures because it’s the film that confirmed a major theory: Darth Vader was Luke’s father. While Rey’s parentage has been dissected to a point where nothing can surprise me anymore, this film needs to have a major, jaw-dropping reveal. Or at least, something people can misquote for the next thirty-forty years.
Furthermore, Empire Strikes Back was a really weighted film compared to A New Hope. The farmboy version of Luke Skywalker died and was replaced by man who needed to face his own fears and accept that people are not always what they seem. Both Darth Vader and Yoda forced him to confront the idea that he did have darkness within him and that a time would come when Luke would need to choose between the easy path and the harder, trauma-filled life of a Jedi.
As this theme continues through The Last Jedi, we know the choice will evolve. It would be all too easy to see Rey fall to the dark side, but we still have people like Kylo Ren, and obviously, Luke Skywalker to worry about.
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To his credit, I think Rian Johnson has found a way to make the story feel a lot more unique and exciting despite being a rehash of a film that already came out a long time ago. In fact, I didn’t even consider the similarities between The Force Awakens and A New Hope until The Internet pointed it out.
The argument isn’t whether it’s the same film, it’s more a question of whether you care about Star Wars enough to disregard that tidbit … The Force Awakens has about $2 billion that says you will.