Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has revealed that he loves the fan theories that Luke Skywalker is going to turn towards the dark side. Earlier this month, Lucasfilm released the official full-length trailer for the highly anticipated new installment in the Star Wars franchise along with a new poster; both including hints that former Jedi Master Luke Skywalker may be taking a dark and surprising turn in Episode VIII.
Many fans have a hard time believing that Luke - the man who refused to turn to the dark side and kill his father, Darth Vader, in Return of the Jedi even when the Emperor was torturing him with force lightning - would ever turn towards the dark side. The Last Jedi trailer and poster painted the now much-older Luke in a different light, making fans question whether or not he is going to be an antagonist in this new Star Wars trilogy, maybe even surpassing Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke.
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In an interview with THR, Johnson commented on the fan theories and revealed that he actually loves seeing people thinking, guessing and anticipating what’s to come in the galaxy far, far away. Considering fans have been mostly left in the dark when it comes to the plot of The Last Jedi and the trailer is seemingly filled with misdirection and unclear moments, it's no surprise that fans are questioning Luke's motives. Here is what Johnson said on the matter:
“Having been a Star Wars fan myself for the past 40 years, having spent most of my life on the other side of the curtain, I know the anticipation and the guesswork and theorizing is all part of the fun and game of it. So I love it. I love seeing what people are thinking, seeing what they’re guessing, seeing what they’re anticipating.”
While Johnson’s comments don’t reveal or hint at what’s going on with Luke, he mentioned in a previous interview that The Last Jedi is going be a darker movie than its predecessor The Force Awakens; hinting that our favorite characters are going to be battling their personal demons. As for Luke, his dialogue we’ve heard so far in the two trailers (“I've seen this raw strength once before. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now","This is not going to end the way you think", and “I only know one truth. It’s time for the Jedi to end“) certainly only adds to the theory that Luke has either turned into a shell of the man he once was, fearing Rey and her force powers, or that we are going to get a huge plot twist where he turns to the dark side.
The latest poster also adds more weight to this theory. Besides the fact that the poster may have a Darth Vader homage, there’s also a theory going around that because Luke is featured largely on the top towering over the other characters, he is going to be the villain of the story following the pattern of the previous Star Wars posters. There’s also an IMAX exclusive Last Jedi display that depicts Luke on both the light and dark sides of the force, making fans questions what side Luke is really on or if we are going to see Luke become a grey Jedi – balancing both the dark and light side.
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Source: THR
