Thanks to some of the footage and stories starting to come together about Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we finally know a little more about Canto Bight, specifically that the casino planet will be pretty high end and will feature some very classy patrons. In an interview, Lucasfilm Story Group head Pablo Hidalgo gave the following details about writer and director Rian Johnson's new stop in the Star Wars universe:
What we're going to see in The Last Jedi are some people who have managed to carve out a life for themselves where they can live apart from the galactic struggle. They found a way to live above it or beyond it. There's a class of wealthy that have helped build all sorts of loopholes in society that will always ensure that they'll survive or even thrive no matter what else is happening out there.
Learning this new information makes Johnson's entry into the Star Wars canon all the more interesting, as it not only explores something that the franchise really hasn't delved into, it sounds like a completely Rian Johnson idea. Already, shades of Looper seem to show in this description, as we're now going to be privy to the class of citizen that doesn't know, or care, about the struggles of The Resistance against The First Order. Save for Han Solo's mercenary ways on display in Star Wars: A New Hope, we've never really seen apolitical figures who didn't give a shit about the war raging through the galaxy.
What's so new about this is that throughout the history of Star Wars, we've always seen both sides of the conflict fighting with passion and fire. Even the indifferent Han Solo eventually became a true believer in The Force and the fight of The Rebellion. But from the looks of this new planet's inhabitants, it looks like Star Wars: The Last Jedi will not see any of these well fed patrons turning towards the light or the dark anytime soon, especially considering the following blunt description of Canto Bight's true purpose, via Rian Johnson's remarks to Vanity Fair:
[Canto Bight] is a playground, basically, for rich assholes.
While we'll definitely see more of Canto Bight when Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 18th, we wouldn't be surprised if future trailers happen to showcase the planet just a little more. Knowing Rian Johnson, it's going to look as beautifully seedy as it sounds.
