Star Wars 8 Director Talks Luke & Rey Dynamic

"'The last Jedi' is tied up in [Luke and Rey's] story." - @rianjohnson on the importance of the title of the new @StarWars movie. #D23expo pic.twitter.com/xQUVhTXCXY— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 16, 2017

Writer-director Rian Johnson says that Luke Skywalker and Rey are the "beating heart" of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but he won't go into the title's meaning. With about five months to go before eighth Star Wars episode's release in theaters, fans were treated to another peek into the film over the weekend at Disney's biennial D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.

Since the production has been shrouded in secrecy since the get-go, fans have few opportunities to piece together the semblance of a story apart from the debut of the film's only trailer at Star Wars Celebration in April, and Vanity Fair's behind-the-scenes look at the production in May.

On the heels of a release of a behind-the-scenes sizzle reel during The Last Jedi's presentation at D23 Saturday, Johnson on Sunday tried his best to give some context to the perplexing title of the film, which is still dogging fans. In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America, Johnson was asked again to clear up the confusion surrounding the title (is it singular or plural?) and how it relates to Luke (Mark Hamill) and Rey (Daisy Ridley). Johnson says:

"It's tough to talk about (the title) without talking about it in the context of the movie. (It doesn't) necessarily have multiple meanings, but its meaning evolves over the course of the film. It's tough to talk about without getting into the story, but for me, I guess what it ultimately comes down to is that first question of, 'What is the deal with Luke Skywalker?' Luke and Rey are kind of the beating heart of the film, I guess, (as is) their relationship. So The Last Jedi in all the things that it means is tied up in it."

Johnson clearly chose his words carefully, and for good reason. The last thing he wanted to do was spill any details, because since The Last Jedi will not have a panel at San Diego Comic-Con next weekend, he conceivably won't have to face the press in public again until the film's release.

And while it almost certainly won't come in any future trailer or trailers, the biggest question that fans want an answer to is about Rey's parentage. Ever since The Force Awakens came out in 2015 and Luke made his small but pivotal entrance at the end of the film, fans have been speculating as to who it might be, and obviously the first trailer for The Last Jedi did little to answer that.

If anything, the trailer told us that the film would largely surround Luke and Rey, and Johnson's GMA interview essentially confirms that. And while fans might not discover that Luke is her father, at the very least the story promises to delve into his mentorship of the young apprentice, who clearly has Jedi powers. Ridley said at Star Wars celebration that The Last Jedi will "go deeper into Rey's story," so perhaps fans will get the answer they are looking for. Or will they? Hamill said at D23 this weekend to expect the "unexpected."