We just got a huge bombshell today care of Disney: Star Wars Episode VIII officially has a name now.
The Last Jedi is pretty ominous, and it may very well be the most ominous subtitle in the main franchise. Think about it—The Empire Strikes Back is about the Empire striking back, Return of the Jedi is pretty self-explanatory, The Force Awakens was pretty hopeful if a little mysterious. But this… this, oh man.
Is it a reference to Luke Skywalker being the last Jedi? Or Rey (or maybe even Finn) being the last? Or all three of them possibly being the last Jedi (plural, because Jedi and sheep share the same plural form)? Or could it possibly be Kylo Ren being the last Jedi, coming back to the side of the light after spending some time in his broody emo phase? Could it possibly be a reference to another important and shocking series death… like Luke’s?
We don’t know but because we’re young and bold, we’re willing to make a couple of completely arbitrary early takes. We don’t think Luke is gonna die just yet, for two reasons: 1) because he’s too important to the story of the Jedi (while it’s mostly Rey, Finn, and Kylo’s story, part of it is Luke’s), and 2) if anyone’s going to get a send-off, it’s most likely Leia. Thanks to Carrie Fisher’s untimely passing, the people in charge of the franchise have decided that they’re not going to recreate her in the final act. That can still change, though, but we’ll take what they’ve said right now. Besides, Yoda didn’t die until Return of the Jedi.
Guess we’ll just have to sit really tight on all of our fan speculation until December this year. We’ve got a lot of things to distract us, anyway.