Everything We Know About Star Wars: Episode VIII

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (well last year) Star Wars: The Force Awakens blasted into cinemas and both simultaneously recaptured the spirit of Star Wars so lacking in the prequels and set up tantalising story lines for both these new characters and the old one we all still adore. 

The launch pad for a trilogy of new movies, The Force Awakens moment may have passed but the anticipation it has stoked for new Star Wars movies continues unabated, so, with that in mind here’s everything we know so far about Star Wars: Episode VIII…

Needless to say, there are many spoilers for The Force Awakens below…We must be cautious…

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The Director

Perhaps the biggest difference – and one that appears to be built into Kathleen Kennedy’s overarching plan for the new trilogy – is the change of director. 

Casting a spotlight on Hollywood’s hottest young talent, the limelight now falls on Looper helmer Rian Johnson, with The Force Awakens J.J Abrams staying on in an Executive Producer capacity.  It’s the first time that Johnson has helmed a franchise film but, with his other genre hopping films and his recently demonstrated knack for telling sci-fi stories, he looks like a sound choice to take the next part into darker waters.  

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The Story

Johnson has written the script and, so far, we’ve not had any concrete details concerning the plot, which, given that we never got a full synopsis for The Force Awakens, probably won’t change any time soon. 

So where does that leave us?

Well, what we do know is that the film will break with tradition and start immediately after the events of The Force Awakens, starting with that moment between Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Rey (Daisy Ridley). The wider implications of the events of The Force Awakens are that Rey will be taught the ways of the Force by a reticent Luke, or he could even refuse as he still carries the pain of the events with Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo (Adam Driver). 

There’s even the possibility of Rey not becoming a Jedi. Sure, it would be an anti-climax if, having found Luke Skywalker’s location, he simply turned around and said no – the fact that there exists a map seems to suggest that he’s at least open to the possibility of playing a part in The Resistance. In fact, if he does knock Rey back, she can just as easily regroup with The Resistance and fight the First Order that way. For Luke to have walked away from the fight when perhaps they needed him the most – consolidating power is just as difficult, if not more difficult, than attaining it – he would have to have suffered a major crisis of confidence. Perhaps it has something to do with Rey’s parentage…and it seems like the perfect situation of Kylo Ren to have exploited for his own dark means. 

Whatever happened in the intervening years between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, it doesn’t look like Luke had the best of times. Which is where we could see more of Church of the Force disciple, Lor San Tekka (Max Von Sydow), who was last seen at the business end of Kylo Ren’s lightsabre, return in some capacity. His importance was somewhat underplayed by The Force Awakens but we can easily see Johnson picking up the ball with this character and running with it. After all, you don’t give one half of the map to your location to just anybody…

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What about Finn? Well, last time we saw him, he’d been severely injured attempting to fight off Kylo Ren. Physically and perhaps emotionally scarred by the murder of Han Solo, Finn will recover but it’s the nature of his wounds that will shape which direct the character is going. 

Outside of revenge, there’s the also his life before he was conscripted as a Stormtrooper to explore. Who were his parents? Why and how was he given up? What is his real name? And just what about the massacre on Jakku that made him snap? Could it tie into something he witnessed in the past? 

Details have emerged about his injuries with Making Star Wars unearthing this tidbit about his recovery: 

“Medical staff have now placed Finn in a bubble suit (to elaborate, we have it on good authority it is called a bacta suit), to heal his injuries. There is apparently a sequence where Finn is cut or removed from the suit and is revealed to be in better condition than ever before.” 

If bacta sounds familiar, Luke himself was placed in a bacta tank in The Empire Strikes Back, which was used to heal him after he almost died in the icy wastes of Hoth. 

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Someone who perhaps shouldn’t be in the sequel is Poe Dameron…no really, he shouldn’t. He was supposed to die but thanks to Oscar Isaac's winning charisma and his pleading with J.J Abrams, he lived. And judging by all the hot Poe and Finn fan art, the internet was eternally grateful! 

Now that we do have Poe with us, will he be fleshed out into a key character who’ll interact with our heroes – he certainly has a grudge to bear with Kylo Ren but at this stage who doesn’t? -  or will he fill the Wedge Antilles void and feature solely in the major battles to come? 

While Star Wars: Episode VIII is very much a new character story, there’s still a lot of loose ends with established characters like Leia (Carrie Fisher) Firstly there’s the small matter of Han’s funeral – well the one in his honour considering his body is now part of a sun – and her relationship with Luke. Her role as the leader of The Resistance – who will now have to recruit in greater numbers now the threat behind the First Order has been revealed – will be key to a lot of new characters’ development.

She’s about to become a very important character indeed.  

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Then there’s poor old Chewie. With his life debt to Han Solo – offered in gratitude for Han having freed him from a life of slavery – now sadly paid, it seems likely that he’ll follow The Resistance, no matter what the cost. With the Millennium Falcon now in the hands of Rey, perhaps he’ll stay on as her co-pilot. 

As for new characters, there’s the small matter of one of the galaxies oldest and cutest new faces, Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) who should return - Nyong'o is said to return but she's yet to film anything for the film -  just to explain how the hell she got hold of Luke’s old lightsabre. 

Speaking of Luke’s old stuff, and with the franchises tradition of showing events from the perspective of the droids, we can reasonable expect to see C3P0, R2-D2 and BB-8 return in some capacity in Episode VIII. 

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And now we come to the galaxies big bad, the Soloslayer himself, Kylo Ren.  Seduced by the Dark Side by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and taken from Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy – where he slayed all of the other Padawans, Kylo then went after Luke. The Jedi master then went into hiding, and Kylo Ren found himself positioned as one of the leaders within The First Order. 

Whether or not his own quest to continue the work of his grandfather, Darth Vader, and wipe out all the Jedi – if that was honestly Darth Vader’s goal at the beginning, it’s less clear if that it’s still his goal come the events of A New Hope – however misguided that maybe, comes into conflict with The First Orders next step remains to be seen but, with an new, powerful ‘force’ for good in the galaxy, it looks like it will soon become his new fixation…which brings him in direct conflict with his old master, Luke Skywalker. (One of the best parts of the recent Darth Vader comic is seeing the all powerful Vader somewhat hamstrung by the Empire after the events of A New Hope. It would be interesting to see something similar happen to his grandchild. 

Will killing Han Solo actually bring him solace?

Will he be able to control the Light side of the Force contained within? Will he actually now wear a mask now he’s actually scared? (Remember the mask was simply an affectation, and not, like Vader, a necessity). 

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Perhaps the biggest wasted potential in The Force Awakens was Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). Here was a badass silver clad Stormtrooper who was quite literally, thrown down a garbage chute, so what does the future hold? Other than a bath…

Well, it seems more than likely that she survived – although she may not bore us all with the details of her miraculous escape – it would be good to see her actually do something rather than standing around looking cool. Will she still be loyal to The First Order who left her for dead? 

Then there’s the incredibly shouty General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), despite seeming to take an enormous amount of pleasure in barking orders at the troops, and a certain amount of arrogance in the power of the Starkiller base, despite it being an even greater liability than the Death Star. Seriously, it’s powered by a sun! YOU GET YOUR CALCULATIONS WRONG AND THE WHOLE PLACE GOES UP AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT! WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA! – perhaps we’ll get a bit more backstory this time out. 

The same can be said for Supreme Leader Snoke, who despite casting an imposing hologram, didn’t actually do a great deal other than ask for updates. Perhaps this time out we’ll get to see him in the flesh. 

One of the biggest mysteries is just who Benicio Del Toro will play? He’s said to be one of the main villains but where does he fit in with The Resistance/The First Order conflict? Will he represent the more mercenary side of the galaxy and be a bounty hunter or a gangster like Jabba the Hutt? Or will he be an as-yet unrevealed member of The First Order? Could he have something to do with Luke’s downfall? Could he be a politician with links to The First Order who has some sway over The Resistance? (I know; the mere mention of scheming politicians gives us horrifying prequel flashbacks).

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Another new face who have yet to have their roles confirmed are Kelly Marie Tran who is rumoured to be playing an individual called Aya, an ‘Information Broker’ who sells intelligence to the highest bidder – regardless of their allegiance - who is said to be involved in a bar room shoot out with Finn (although it’s said to be several notches up from the usual wretched hive of scum and villain we are used to). She is also said to be a ‘new lead’ according to Boyega, so could she be this films Lando Calrissian? 

And then there’s Laura Dern’s character. According to Making Star Wars, Dern is playing a leader of the Resistance who takes over command when General Leia’s ship is ambushed and Leia falls into a coma. Under Dern’s leadership, things are made “far worse” for the Resistance. As a result, Poe “takes control” and becomes the group’s interim leader – perhaps a reference to a supposed sequence where he commandeers Dern’s ship. Making Star Wars also notes that Dern’s true loyalties are meant to be ambiguous, the viewer unsure if she’s good or evil. 

Given the precarious position Leia finds herself in during the events of both The Force Awakens novelisation – where it’s made clear that The Resistance is very much a splinter group from the New Republic and not one that everyone wants around – and her own position as a ‘political pariah’ in her own novel, Bloodline, it’s not hard to see Dern’s character as a political rival, snatching a chance to shut down Leia’s indulgent freedom fighters once and for all. 

Principle Photography

Filming came to an end in July ’16. Locations used include Skellig Michael in Ireland, some filming in Mexico, Dubrovnik in Croatia, and, of course, at Pinewood in the UK. 

Release Date 

Star Wars: Episode VIII is scheduled to arrive in theatres on December 15, 2017.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi
The adventure continues as Rey takes her epic journey forward with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in this next chapter ...
Release Dates
27 Mar 2018-DVD
27 Mar 2018-Blu-ray
13 Mar 2018-VOD
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