Spoiler alert for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If anyone still hasn’t seen the $936million grossing Force Awakens, this article on The Last Jedi is about a significant character who died in the previous film.
Okay, everyone caught up now?
Most Star Wars fans spent Christmas 2015 mourning the death of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) at the hands of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This Christmas, Episode VIII, Star Wars: The Last Jedi picks up with the new generation Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac).
For Finn, there’s no time to mourn Han Solo in The Last Jedi.
“I think we’re just keeping it moving, to be honest with you,” Boyega said. “It’s true. The pressure’s on, man. I’m sure we all feel sentimental if one was to sit Finn down or sit Rey down, but Rey’s off training, she’s got stuff to do. I’ve got a back injury, I’ve got stuff to do. I can’t think about Han at the moment.”
Poe is also busy fighting back, so isn’t thinking much about Han.
“He’s right,” Isaac said. “It’s a dire situation. It’s critical. The resistance is on its last legs. We’ve been trying to survive. The First Order is right on top of us. It is like war. You’ve got to just keep moving to try to survive. So you feel, I think, the momentum of everything that happened in The Force Awakens just pushing and getting to a critical mass in this film.”
That leaves Rey, who found Luke Skywalker at the end of The Force Awakens. Ridley said that Rey does feel the loss of Han Solo in The Last Jedi, even though she’d only just met him.
“Rey at least is very much affected by it,” Ridley said. “For Han, without trying to, she seeks something with him because there’s an intimacy and there’s a sort of figure of something she’s never dreamed of for her that’s snatched away. Everything’s new to her so she’s understanding things in a different way.”
Previews show Rey practicing her Force skills with Luke (Mark Hammil) behind her, ambiguously either supporting her or chastising her. It’s not enough activity to keep her from remembering Han though.
“For Rey at least, there is some time,” Ridley continued. “Everything’s moving forward but she has some time to ask questions and wonder what it is that could have led someone to do something like that. Also how that directly affects the world around her. She’s worried about her home so I would say she’s maybe a bit more affected, at least emotional on screen.”
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens December 15.