Star Wars: The Last Jedi features many actions by Luke that were not expected by our legendary hero. Director Rian Johnson recently explained the legendary and unexecuted trists to the conclusion of the hit film.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Luke is deconstructed and portrayed as hopeless and regretful. But as the film progresses, Luke comes to terms with his past failures and confronts the consequences of those mistakes as he faces his former apprentice and nephew Ben Solo/Kylo Ren, through a new Force ability that hasn’t been seen in previous installments..
Rian Johnson recently spoke about Luke Skywalker’s final heroic act and explained the weight of his actions in the film:
“I don’t want to get too explicit, because I like people being able to have their own interpretations, but I think definitely the act of what he does at the end literally just takes everything out of him. That’s a huge thing. Also … he’s having his final act be something of myth-making in a way. It does go back a little bit to what he said at the beginning,’What do you think one guy walking out there with a lightsaber [can do]?’ … The answer is: Create a legend that will spread hope. And once he’s done that, combined with the physical toll it’s taken on him, you can make the case that then there’s nothing more powerful that he could accomplish.”
Johnson went on to say that Luke’s final act solidifies his legacy as a legendary figure in the Star Wars universe:
“The galaxy needs legends. I think about the look in Rey’s eyes in The Force Awakens, when she says, ‘Luke Skywalker, I thought he was a myth,’ and that gleam in her eyes. And I think about how I felt when I showed up to work the first day to meet with Mark Hamill, and I sat down and started talking to him, and I could only see Luke Skywalker. He made it very hard to talk, and [it’s] the idea that there’s value in that, in terms of inspiring us to fight the good fight and to be our best.”
The talented director knew that it would be a really tough decision to go through with killing Luke, even in this heroic way, :
“When I realized that that’s where Luke was going to get to by the end of the movie, and when I realized this was gonna be an emotionally rich arc for him, it seemed like if there was a time to give him his moment, this would be it. I wasn’t looking forward to it. I was kind of dreading it, but at the same time it felt like the right moment. It felt like the right time in this trilogy.”
Also read: George Lucas’ Vision Of Luke’s Jedi Temple Revealed
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the film stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Benicio del Toro.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is in theaters now!
Do you think they gave Luke the sendoff he deserved? Let us know in the comments below!
