Why Fans are Wrong About That Benicio del Toro 'Last Jedi' Theory

Darth Vader gave Star Wars fans major trust issues when he revealed himself as Luke and Leia’s father. Now, according to the most rampant fan theories on the internet, everyone in Star Wars is either related to someone else or holding onto a secret identity. DJ, Benicio del Toro’s swindler character in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, has garnered his fair share of theories, but one of the most popular ones connects him to the animated series Star Wars Rebels.

Here’s why that theory is wrong.

Reddit user loydo38 posted the theory to r/StarWarsTheories, citing new information about a Last Jedi DJ Funko Pop! Vinyl that connects Ezra and DJ via two tiny lines. The question is whether or not those lines are on the same sides.

Photos of this Funko and of del Toro in character as DJ indicate the character has a specific scar, one that he just might share with Ezra. This had led some fans to think that Ezra and DJ are the same person.

On some level, this theory makes sense. Ezra would be 53 years old at the time of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and del Toro is 50, making him the perfect age to portray an aged-up Ezra.

In most of Star Wars Rebels, Ezra (voiced by Taylor Gray) is a fan-favorite human Jedi Padawan with a lot of untapped potentials and a lot of learning to do. He’s gone up against Maul, searched for Obi-Wan Kenobi, and become something of a leader in the Rebellion against the evil Empire.

He also has two scars below his left eye, scars that DJ seems to share.

This theory isn’t necessarily a new one. It actually got so popular over the summer that a Good Morning America host asked Last Jedi director Rian Johnson about the theory point-blank.

“He’s his own person,” Johnson said in July. “DJ is his own person.”

So, unless Johnson is lying, there’s your answer: del Toro’s DJ is a completely new character.

As for Ezra, another theory tying him to the Star Wars films is that he became a student at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi academy only to fall to the Dark side and become one of the Knights of Ren that helped destroy it. Fans love the idea of a favorite good guy turning to the Dark side. That theory remains unconfirmed, though.

Little is known about del Toro’s DJ in Last Jedi; he’s expected to be a bit of an unreadable character. DJ lives in the gray area of the Star Wars universe, a rare role in such a black-and-white world of good and evil.

It seems fans will have to wait for Last Jedi to premiere to find out what’s real about the mysterious DJ.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15.