Everything we just learned about 'The Last Jedi'
It may not be a new full-length trailer, which many fans were hoping to see. But the Last Jedi "behind the scenes" video just released at Disney's D23 fan convention still subtly dropped an awful lot of information about the upcoming chapter in the Star Wars saga.
Indeed, it doesn't take too much analysis of this video, or the D23 panel that surrounded it, before you realize this most mysterious movie is quite a bit more scrutable than you might think.
Here's what we know now:
Finn fights Phasma!
"Finn's about to have a fight with a formidable opponent," John Boyega told the D23 audience of his character; it was the one notable piece of information in this cards-close-to-the-chest panel. Gwendoline Christie, who plays Captain Phasma, then got, um, down in Boyega's face.
A Finn-Phasma match-up would make a lot of narrative sense, given that Finn was directly under Phasma's command in The Force Awakens -- and has now defected to the Resistance. His lightsaber battle against a trooper who called him "traitor" was one of the more popular moments in that episode of the saga.
Oh, and Finn is seen lifting the lid of the large plastic sarcophagus where we left him at the end of Force Awakens, so there's that.
Rey has lightsaber fights with Kylo Ren and other people at the same time!
Daisy Ridley is seen practicing her saber skills with Adam Driver (on the right) and at least two other opponents. We know that Kylo Ren and his crew, the Knights of Ren, go in pursuit of Luke and Rey. So expect something like the Rey-Ren lightsaber brawl in the snowy forest of Starkiller base, but at least twice as epic.
Rose and Finn go undercover!
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That's Rose, Kelly Marie Tran's new character, and Finn, with whom romance for Rose has been teased. Here they are, probably not on a first date, donning First Order uniforms.
The scene looks not dissimilar from Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor going undercover at an Imperial base in the last act of Rogue One.
There are new aliens and creatures galore!
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The guy on the left is being unofficially described as a Porg, thanks to a report from the blog Making Star Wars that has a pretty good track record of digging up spoilers from behind the scenes.
According to the report, Porgs are "sacred creatures" from Luke's adopted planet Ahch-to. No doubt the sound they make is the sound of cash registers ringing in Disney merchandise stores.
The one on the right isn't a space wolf; it has been officially described by Lucasfilm insiders as "more of a fox."
Then there's a tiny croupier in a green vest that looks like a snail, and a horse that looks like a dog, and is it December yet?
There are underwater scenes!
Daisy Ridley is seen diving into a large swimming pool, while a camera follows other figures down in the depths. Ahch-to, the planet where Rey found Luke, has an awful lot of water. At one point in the movie's first teaser trailer, Rey is seen running lightsaber in hand along an Ahch-to cliff. You do the math.
Stormtroopers have new weaponry!
We're not sure exactly what this grabby tool does, but it's certain to be multipurpose. Climb up glaciers on Hoth and also fetch things from high shelves on Star Destroyers?
Laura Dern is a blaster-toting badass with purple hair!
Okay, we already knew about her hair color, thanks to an Annie Liebowitz Vanity Fair photo of Dern's Resistance leader character (Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo) from the rear. But here she is from the front, in conference with General Leia Organa, and oh, if only we could have a Thelma and Louise-style spin-off starring these two characters. Sigh.
But back to The Last Jedi, in which Holdo fires a blaster at some point. We know this because director Rian Johnson told the hilarious story of when Dern said "pew pew" by accident on set while miming firing the weapon.
We've all been there, Laura.
Even Chewie had his hair did!
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I mean, it could just be the crew messing around, but it also makes a lot of sense.
When your best pal just got killed by his son and you seriously need a pick-me-up -- Chewbacca is also seen sadly camping alone by the Millennium Falcon at night -- there's no better way to treat yourself than to head down to the salon.
Topics Star Wars
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
