Try as he might, The Last Jedi panel moderator Josh Gad couldn’t convince Daisy Ridley to lay any big secrets upon the Star Wars Celebration audience in Orlando, Florida (and those of us viewing at home via droid-couriered hologram). But that’s to be expected. Obviously we weren’t going to learn about the enigmatically surnameless Rey’s parentage by way of a convention panel–and who would want to? That’s the stuff best saved for third act spats high above Cloud City, or late night pow-wows on Dagobah. But we did actually get a few unexpected revelations from the panel, and one indeed from Ridley herself.
In talking about her character’s imminent Force training sesh with Luke Skywalker, Ridley suggests that it may not exactly go swimmingly for Rey. In fact, Luke may not exactly be the bona fide good guy we remember from the Original Trilogy. “It’s difficult when you meet your heroes,” Ridley said on stage, pertaining to Rey’s feelings about Luke. “They may not be what you expect.” That sure gave the audience a thrill, as any intrigue attached to our series superboy-turned-depressive hermit helps to further color what promises to be a much darker The Last Jedi. (Luke’s final line in the first trailer for the film seems to back that idea up, too.)
But then again, the news wasn’t all dour. Director Rian Johnson introduced us to a brand new character entering the franchise: Rose, played by Kelly Marie Tran, a maintenance worker for the Resistance whom we can bet will soon enough rise to a higher calling:
Rose works in maintenance for the Resistance, gets pulled into the adventure with Finn. Rian Johnson likened her to Luke. I am excite #SWCO pic.twitter.com/xf7uAsaUAQ
— Keith Chow (@the_real_chow) April 14, 2017
On top of this news, we did get to see a few shots from The Last Jedi production, offering glimpses of actors John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and the great Carrie Fisher on set.
#RianJohnson shares his behind the scenes photos of #StarWarsTheLastJedi pic.twitter.com/sixYg9fm6C
— The Playlist (@ThePlaylist) April 14, 2017
Not to mention one dynamite poster…
#TheLastJedi poster has been revealed. #SWCO pic.twitter.com/fqnf1bQtPu
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 14, 2017
So yeah, we’ll have to wait a little longer to find out who Rey’s parents are, but that’s the way Star Wars works. Enjoy all this for now!
Image: Lucasfilm
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