Everything we learned in 'Vanity Fair's 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' cover
It's almost time to return to a galaxy far, far away. Again.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is hitting theaters this December, and we still don't know too much about what is going on with Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Luke (Mark Hamill) and the rest in the new installment. For the past few months, fans have had only the ominous title and a vague trailer to go on, but on Wednesday, a new cover story from Vanity Fair unleashed a wealth of plot details and images for fans to parse through, including interviews with the cast and director and writer Rian Johnson.
Here are the big things we learned from the story (mild spoilers follow).
Everyone's a little damaged
The Force Awakens did not leave the film's main characters, on both the Light Side and the Dark, in particularly good shape.
“I feel like almost everyone is in that rehabilitation state," said Adam Driver, who plays baddie Kylo Ren. The character was injured in a lightsaber battle in Force Awakens, right after killing his father, Han Solo. And he's pretty affected by it in the new installment. "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.”
Don't expect Luke and Rey to be the same as Yoda and Luke
Although the trailer made it clear that Rey will be hanging with Luke in the new film, Johnson says fans shouldn't think there's a “one-to-one correlation” between their relationship and Luke's with his mentor, Yoda, which was a central plot in The Empire Strikes Back. "There’s a training element to it,” he said, “but it’s not exactly what you would expect.” Johnson also confirmed what many fans expected after The Force Awakens: that Luke has been camping on the planet home to the first Jedi temple, called Ahch-To.
There are a bunch of new characters
At Star Wars Celebration in April, Johnson revealed that actress Kelly Marie Tran would be playing a maintenance worker for the Resistance, Rose. In the Vanity Fair story, he expands on her part and other new characters, played by Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro. Dern will play a prominent Resistance officer named Vice Admiral Holdo (and sports pinkish purple hair in the photoshoot). Del Toro's character is unnamed, but was referred to as DJ by the filmmakers and is described as "shady."
We're going to see the galaxy's 1%
Have you ever imagined what Star Wars aliens might wear to the Met Gala? Johnson has, apparently.
The new film will introduce a casino city called Canto Bight, “a Star Wars Monte Carlo-type environment, a little James Bond-ish, a little To Catch a Thief,” the director said. It's a very different environment for the franchise. “It was an interesting challenge, portraying luxury and wealth in this universe," Johnson added. "I was thinking, 'OK, let’s go ultra-glamour. Let’s create a playground, basically, for rich (expletives).' "
Read the full story at Vanity Fair.