Mondays are generally looked at with annoyance, so it's always nice when something unexpected happens to help brighten the exit from the weekend. In today's case (at least in the world of geek fandom), that came from Lucasfilm finally revealing the official title for Star Wars: Episode VIII, which we can now call Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It's only five words, but just like what happened with The Force Awakens title announcement, Star Wars fans are frantically speculating about the deeper meaning, namely who this last Jedi is. Luke? (He was called that in The Force Awakens' opening crawl.) Rey? Someone we haven't met yet? There's no doubt that's an important question, but something that has also piqued our curiosity is the red coloring of the title, seen below.
Choosing red over the traditional yellow may not seem like a weird creative decision at first, but this isn't the first time we've seen this specific color change for Star Wars movies. 1983's Return of the Jedi and 2005's Revenge of the Sith both made use of red font with their early posters. So what do those two movies have in common? They were both the final chapters of their respective trilogies and they marked key turning points for members of the Skywalker family. Okay, so technically the latter is applicable to all the main Star Wars saga movies, but think about it; Anakin succumbed to the dark side and became Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith, while Luke defeated his father and became a Jedi Knight in Return of the Jedi.
Obviously the last chapter element isn't applicable to The Last Jedi since Episode IX will fulfill that job in 2019, but the Skywalker-centric focus remains plausible. When we last left the main characters from a galaxy far, far away in The Force Awakens, Rey had found Luke on Ahch-To, Kylo Ren had escaped Starkiller Base to continue his training with Supreme Leader Snoke and Leia was still leading The Resistance against The First Order. While details surrounding The Last Jedi are scarce, there are a few things we do know, both officially and unofficially. Luke will train Rey on Ahch-To, with will reportedly involve the young woman battling a sea monster to prove she's worthy to stay on the planet. Kylo Ren will reportedly be taking after his corrupted grandfather in more ways, including wearing a flowing cape and piloting a customized TIE Fighter. There hasn't much word on what Leia will be up to beyond her continued Resistance duties, though with Carrie Fisher's sudden passing last month, it's possible her story will be adjusted to conclude either in this movie or set the stage for an exit in Episode IX.
Keep in mind that both Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith also saw major shifts for the Jedi as a whole, with the former nearly killing off all of their kind and the latter proving new hope for their resurgence. Unfortunately, the Jedi are once again back to near-extinction thanks to the Knights of Ren, leaving Luke and his apprentice Rey as the only ones known to still be alive at the moment. So where does that leave us? Well, given that there's also a rumored showdown that will happen between Luke, Rey and the Knights of Ren, it's seems likely that there will be another major status quo shift in the Force during The Last Jedi. Maybe Luke Skywalker will die during the conflict against Snoke and The First Order, leaving Rey as the only one left to continue his legacy. Maybe somehow Kylo Ren will be redeemed during the story and join Luke and Rey by their side as the last Jedi, plural. Sure, he still has to answer for killing our beloved Han, but three lightsabers are better than two against the forces of evil. Who knows, maybe there's a slim chance that more Jedi survived the Knights of Ren's slaughter than previously implied.
Given how frequently the Star Wars projects choose yellow as the title color, The Last Jedi's red title coloring can't just be an aesthetic choice. There has to be creative rationale behind the choice, and since the new trilogy doesn't end this December, that leaves a major shocker concerning either the Skywalker family or the Jedi Order as a whole as the main possibility. Personally, I'm now more worried than ever about Luke Skywalker's chances of survival given how The Force Awakens killed off Han Solo and how this new trilogy is primarily focused on these new characters. Regardless, every Star Wars movie has had major moments that left lasting repercussions on this fictional universe as a whole, but taking into account what Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi brought to their respective tables, we can't help but think that The Last Jedi's red coloring means that something especially big is coming at the end of the year. If you have your own thoughts on the matter, feel free to leave them in the comments below.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in theaters on December 15.
