Through the grace of Rian Johnson, Lucasfilm and everyone involved with the planning of Star Wars: Celebration Orlando, we got our first look at Star Wars: The Last Jedi today through its new teaser trailer. And as per usual for the legendary sci-fi franchise, it only took a little over two minutes of footage to get hearts racing and minds spinning over what's going to take place in writer/director Rian Johnson's sequel to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In particular, there are eight pretty big moments that we caught sight of, and feel will define Star Wars: The Last Jedi's tone and story. If you're as curious as us, feel free to read along and make any sorts of observations of your own in the comments section, as it's a long road to December 15.
Rey Has Force Powers
As any good Force user will tell you, levitating objects is basically a rite of passage in the ways of The Force. While we're not seeing huge boulders being lifted into the air, or any X-Wings for that matter, the mental lifting of some light rocks is still a big step for the former scavenger of Jakku. Not only does it mirror Luke's experiences training with Master Yoda, it's a signal of greater things to come. Lightsabers and mind tricks were only the start of this young apprentice's development.
More Voices From The Past
What sort of sequel would Star Wars: The Last Jedi be if it didn't include a doff of the cap to the past? Much like Rey's visions in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, her new visions include a lot of familiar voices from the original trilogy. In particular, we hear General (then Princess) Leia's famous holographic message, Obi Wan's lament about Darth Vader, and Master Yoda's intent to train Luke all ringing in our ears. We might be moving forward, but what came before will be more important than ever.
Maz Kanata's Back?
In a rather cryptic scene of ruins, we see an obscure hand brushing something with what looks like the symbol of the Jedi Order. Now, either that orange hand belongs to any random character wearing gloves to protect themselves, or, we might just be seeing the return of Maz Kanata. Maybe there are more Jedi artifacts hiding in the ruins of her now-trashed hideaway? Either that, or a random orange gloved hand could be discovering something hidden in the first Jedi temple on Ahch-To.
Podracers?!
Racing across a barren, sandy planet are several crafts that look like, surprise surprise, podracers reminiscent of those shown in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Though we're not sure if there's some sort of race, ceremonial formation or even some sort of strategic operation at hand. All we see are a handful of identical craft, with one of them falling out of formation, and almost crashing in the process. But if you look at the horizon ahead, it looks like there are massive AT-AT walkers waiting to greet these fast movers in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Finn Is Still In His Coma
Judging by the shadows on Finn's pod, it looks like he might be in the middle of being transported somewhere, which has us wondering if his accommodations are on one of those would-be podracers. While John Boyega promised that Finn would be back to do his thing in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, he's temporarily become the Luke Skywalker of the new trilogy. What we mean is, we still don't know what he'll be doing, or any of his new story beats for sure just yet. Though we're still hoping he wakes up in the first act, with enough time to infiltrate the First Order, as previously rumored.
Poe Will Lose His X-Wing
Indiana Jones has his hat, Luke had his lightsaber, and for any Resistance pilot, the X-Wing is their signature item. Which is what makes Star Wars: The Last Jedi's trailer a bit of a puppy kick for fans of Poe Dameron, as it looks like he's losing his in a huge First Order attack. True to Rian Johnson's word, it looks like the First Order's big, bold moves include an all-out assault on The Resistance's military apparatus. Also, it looks like this happens during all of that space action towards the end of the trailer, which in turn makes us think this is going to happen close to, if it isn't actually the opening of the film.
More Details On The Assault On Luke's Jedi Temple
The assault on Luke Skywalker's Jedi training camp was a moment that not only scarred the Jedi Master himself, but also burned a deep, indelible image in the minds of moviegoers and Star Wars fans. We never really got to see much of the incident, as it was basically being used to move things along in Star Wars: The Force Awakens' plot. Well, it looks like we're getting more details this time out, with Kylo Rey's origins and Captain Phasma leading the charge against the forces of good looking to be on display right here.
Luke Wants To End The Jedi
And then there's the moment of all moments from Star Wars: The Last Jedi's trailer. Luke apparently wants to end the Jedi Order, which not only ties so beautifully into the title of the film, but also make for a hell of a stinger. You wouldn't think that Luke, out of all people, would want to end the legendary order of peace and justice in the galaxy. But as Daisy Ridley told us today, sometimes when you meet your heroes, they turn out to be complete different than you'd ever envisioned them.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi reveals all of its secrets on December 15.
