Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker feels that it’s time for the Jedi to end, and is relentlessly training Rey to help him in his battle, in the recently released teaser trailer for the anticipated action-adventure sequel, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’ But even though Luke and Rey are seen teaming up to enter a battle together, Daisy Ridley, who plays the franchise’s latest protagonist, doesn’t feel as though her character is necessarily training to become a Jedi.
Ridley spoke to MTV News about how many fans of the ‘Star Wars’ series assuming that her character is preparing to become a Jedi, since ‘The Force Awakens‘ ended with Rey finding Luke. The actress warned viewers about building up those types of expectations. She stated, “I don’t know if I am a Jedi..I don’t think I am. We’ve had this debate as to whether Leia is because she uses her Force powers. Just because she’s not like, oh I’m going on an adventure like Luke, doesn’t make her any less Forceful.”
The revelation that the MTV Movie Award-winning actress made about Rey becoming a Jedi in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi,’ as noted on Movie Pilot, fits in with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures gearing up its promotion of the sci-fi follow-up’s upcoming release in theaters on December 15. The distribution company not only unveiled the movie’s anticipated teaser trailer last week at Star Wars Celebration Orlando, but also debuted a short sizzle reel on March 28 at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
The sizzle reel, which was cut from the ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII’ teaser trailer, is all about Rey being trained by Luke. The reel features Rey holding the blue lightsaber as it’s ignited, and then moving the rocks with the lightsaber. Rey is also shown to be training to use the force by Luke, as she uses his lightsaber, which is also the original one that Anakin used in the ‘Star Wars’ prequel trilogy. Fans have pointed out that it will make sense if ‘Episode VIII: The Last Jedi’ pays homage to ‘Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back,’ since Rey levitating the rocks in the upcoming installment pays tribute to Luke and Yoda’s training in the second entry in the original trilogy.
The release of last year’s popular stand-alone entry in the ‘Star Wars’ series, ‘Rogue One,’ also garnered one of the most popular theories amongst fans; speculation states that Felicity Jones‘ character, Jyn Erso, is Rey’s mother. Ridley does know the identity of Rey’s parents, and has commented on the physical similarities between her and the Oscar-nominated Jones. Ridley does look more like Jones than Hamill, which disputes another popular theory that has also arisen that Luke is Rey’s father.
While ‘Rogue One’ has been marketed as a complete standalone entry in the ‘Star Wars’ franchise, it could still influence the main series’ story. But Rey has commented that Rey is finding her own place in the ‘Star Wars’ world. She has also stated: “Regardless of where you come from, where you go is the thing: you’re moving forward, and you can make a family, you can find people who you love. So I think the progression Rey is making is and the relationships she’s making now are more important than where she comes from.”
The eighth episode in the acclaimed franchise was written and directed by ‘Looper’ scribe-helmer, Rian Johnson. In addition to Ridley and Hamill, the epic fantasy film stars Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Andy Serkis, Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern and Kelly Marie Tran.
During the 2017 CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures showed a sizzle reel from the 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' teaser trailer, which focuses Rey being trained by Luke Skywalker.