So far, the most we’ve heard about Star Wars: Episode VIII has come from a very enthusiastic Adam Driver, who has praised how “socially active” the film is, among other things. Now, the film’s director, Rian Johnson, is finally talking about what else fans can expect from the latest installment in the Skywalker saga.
Basically, it’s going to have a lot to do with Luke Skywalker, or rather, Luke’s relationship with Rey. According to CBR.com, Episode VIII will pick up right where The Force Awakens left off: on a verdant cliff with Rey having returned Luke’s lightsaber to him. Whereas there was one in-universe year between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and thirty years between that and The Force Awakens, Johnson wanted no time to pass between the end of TFA and his film, which wrapped back in July.
“I don’t want to skip ahead two years,” he says. “I want to see the very next moment of what happens.”
He also wanted much of the story of Episode VIII to center around Rey and Luke. The film will more directly continue the existing Skywalker mythology by exploring how Luke got to be where he is now and what his future plans are. However, it will also develop Rey even further, and her relationship with Luke will be “a large part of the movie.”
As expected, she will also be exploring her newly-discovered Force sensitivity. Says Johnson: “[P]art of what’s she’s dealing with is the realization that she has this power and this gift… She’s taking her first step to coming to terms with this thing inside her that she never knew was there and is just starting to reveal its potential.”
Her first step into a larger world, even?
Episode VIII is finally less than a year away! It arrives in theaters (hopefully with a title we’ll be finding out soon!) December 15th.
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