Oh hell yes. If you’re not pumped for The Last Jedi yet, then this latest behind-the-scenes video featuring the cast training for their badass fights will do the trick. Seriously, this new brand new featurette about Star Wars: The Last Jedi is way better than all the trailers combined.
On Thursday, the new video surfaced on YouTube, and it sports a ton of new footage of Daisy Ridley and the whole cast engaging in some seriously intense lightsaber and fight training.
Assistant Fight Coordinator on The Last Jedi, Liang Yang said he expected Ridley to memorize a “whole routine” for one sequence in “three days, but she surprised me by doing it in an hour and a half.” Basically, if there are any haters out there who still believe Rey couldn’t learn to fight with a lightsaber so quickly in The Force Awakens, it appears Daisy Ridley is a “very quick learner” in real life. And The Last Jedi will demonstrate just how much stamina Ridley is capable in the film’s various fight sequences. Johnsons’s comments also clarify one mystery from the trailers. Rey does train with her old staff, before deciding to pick up the lightsaber again. “Why would I train with this staff, when I’ve got Luke SKywaler’s lightsaber in my satchel?” Johnson says, explaining Rey’s thinking behind the switch.
The video also showed Gwendoline Christie’s fight training for Captain Phasma’s big showdown with Finn in the movie. The Game of Thrones veteran, though no stranger to sword fights, said that fighting in Phasma’s armor was “the hardest physical thing I’ve done yet.” John Boyega also reveals that he wanted to do the entire Phasma/Finn fight “by himself,” making it sound like no stunt doubles were used for this scene.
Kelly-Marie Tran also talked briefly about learning “different types of fighting,” while Daisy Ridley admits to being inspired by Adam Driver’s example. For his part, Driver says that “these stunt guys are very disciplined, so you can’t half-ass it.”
Perhaps, the most telling thing about all the scenes in which Driver and Ridley are fighting is the fact that they appear to have numerous combatants to fend off. Could this mean Rey and Kylo Ren have to face down the rest of the Knights of Ren? Other Jedi Knights? Snoke’s Praetorian Guards?
The good news is, we only have two short weeks left to find out. But in the meantime, let’s just watch this rad video again.
The Last Jedi is out everywhere on December 15. Follow all of Inverse’s coverage of the film right here.
