‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ | New Pictures and Plot Details!

We’re only four months away from the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and we still know next to nothing about the film’s plot, it’s new characters, and what big-eyed gerbils will look like in space.

Fortunately, if your really wanted to know more about all those subjects (including the gerbil part), Disney and LucasFilm revealed a deluge of new images and information about Rian Johnson’s chapter in the ongoing Star Wars saga. We won’t make you wait any longer. The gerbil is cute as hell, and it’s apparently a member of an alien race called the Porg. Awesome, right?

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That’s just one of the many new images from Star Wars: The Last Jedi that premiered today on EW, but that’s not all. Rian Johnson, the director of the film, had some updates to share about what we can expect from the actual plot and characters of the film. It’s funny how those little concepts, which would normally be in all the marketing materials, are closely guarded secrets when Star Wars is involved.

The first big update involves a character who has been on audiences’ minds since the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Why the heck is he on that deserted island? Doesn’t he know the galaxy is in danger?

“The very first step in the writing of this was figuring out why he’s on that island,” according to Rian Johnson. “We know that he is not a coward. He’s not just hiding because he’s scared. But we also know that he must know his friends are in danger. He must know the galaxy needs him. And he’s sitting on this island in the middle of nowhere. There had to be an answer. It had to be something where Luke Skywalker believes he’s doing the right thing – and the process of figuring out what that is and unpacking it is the journey for Rey.”

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The article reveals that although Rey (Daisy Ridley) spent most of The Force Awakens making friends, her relationship with Luke Skywalker won’t be nearly as easygoing. Apparently, he flat-out doesn’t want her there.

Mark Hamill himself adds: “[Luke] made a huge mistake in thinking that his nephew was the chosen one, so he invested everything he had in Kylo, much like Obi-Wan did with my character. And he is betrayed, with tragic consequences. Luke feels responsible for that. That’s the primary obstacle he has to rejoining the world and his place in the Jedi hierarchy, you know? It’s that guilt, that feeling that it’s his fault, that he didn’t detect the darkness in him until it was too late.”

Meanwhile, Finn (John Boyega) is finally taking the opportunity to flee the conflict altogether, but his plans will be dashed when he meets Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), who wants him to be the hero he always pretended to be.

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“Everyone in the space, throughout the galaxy, would have heard about the young Jedi who discovered her powers and defeated Kylo Ren and the young former Stormtrooper who helped save the day,” John Boyega explains to EW. “He’s a hero to people like Rose, who fight for the Resistance because their homes have been destroyed by the First Order.”

And that makes him a very “big deal” to Rose, who doesn’t fit the hero mold… yet.

“Poe Dameron is super cool. Finn’s super cool. Even though [Rose] is good at what she does, she’s not known,” Kelly Marie Tran says. “She’s not cool. She’s this nobody, this background player, which is what makes her interesting. She’s not the best. She’s not royalty. She’s someone who is just like everyone else.”

For more information about the characters and aliens of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, check out the upcoming Fall Preview issue of Entertainment Weekly!

New ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Images!

Top Photo: LucasFilm

William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on Canceled Too Soon and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.