Ever since the title for for the eighth film in the world’s most popular space-family drama was revealed as Star Wars: The Last Jedi, fans have been speculating on whom and what it was referring to. Could this mean the end of the only living fully fledged Jedi we know, Luke Skywalker? Or maybe it’s referring to Episode VII’s protagonist, Rey, as the future last practitioner of the magic religion? Is the Jedi in the title plural, meaning its actually about a secret, rogue band of lightsaber-wielding good guys? Well, apparently we could have had our answer all along if only we asked the movie’s director, Rian Johnson, like the New York Times did.
“It’s in the opening crawl of The Force Awakens,” Johnson explained. “Luke Skywalker, right now, is the last Jedi. There’s always wiggle room in these movies — everything is from a certain point of view — but coming into our story, he is the actual last of the Jedi.”
Johnson also confirmed that in the trailer for the upcoming movie it was Luke Skywalker saying, “It’s time for the Jedi to end.” That point was a bit of a given — actor Mark Hamill’s voice is pretty recognizable — but Johnson added that the plot is “absolutely tied up in that question of, What is Luke’s attitude toward the Jedi?” We’re going to assume it’s not all Cloud City sunsets and Ewok parties.
