Luke Skywalker Does, in Fact, Smile at Some Point in "The Last Jedi'
And not just in the special features.
At some point during Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker will crack a smile. Is it during a reunion with his sister Leia Organa? Or does he wistfully recall a fond memory? Maybe he really hates porgs and watches Chewbacca eat one?
In a live Q&A posted to the official Facebook Star Wars page Friday, actors Daisy Ridley, Domhnall Gleeson, and Kelly Marie Tran joined The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson in answering some fan questions. Most of them are generic but still fun, like “What’s your favorite Star Wars memory?” But one of the last questions got a bit spoilery — which might be why somebody behind-the-scenes shut the Q&A down right after.
Kelly Marie Tran reads the question: “Does Luke smile in The Last Jedi?” After some bumbling from the group, Rian Johnson re-reads the question over and says: “I don’t think this gives away anything: Yeah, you get a little bit of a Luke smile in [the movie].” Immediately after, Johnson gets “the signal” from offscreen to end the Q&A. Was it because he give away too much?
Check out the full Q&A here, with the question occurring at about the 11:51 mark:
We don’t know why Luke smiles in The Last Jedi, but we know he will — at least a little bit. Is it a smirk? Does he laugh? Is it wistful or from genuine mirth?
No matter what, it comes as a bit of a surprise considering how serious he’s been in all of the trailers thus far, even screaming at Rey enough for some to wonder if he might be turning to the Dark side. He’s gone through some series trauma in the 30 years since Return of the Jedi.
So what would cause him to crack a smile?
Does Luke ever smile anymore?
It’s also worth noting that when Tran initially reads the question about Luke smiling, she turns to the group and says, “Can I answer this?” She then quickly passes it to Johnson, who says to her, “You probably can’t, right? Literally, you can’t, because you haven’t — .”
You haven’t what, Rian Johnson!?
We can only speculate, but some fans commenting on the video took this to mean that Tran’s character, newcomer Rose Tico, never meets Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. That hardly spoils anything, but it makes a bit of sense considering while Rey trains with Luke on Ahch-To, Rose and Finn are off to Canto Blight on some secret mission.
Could that also mean we won’t get a Rey-Finn reunion in The Last Jedi? Possibly, but that’s purely speculative.
Thankfully, we don’t have much longer of a wait to find out for sure.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be released in theaters December 15.
