Japanese Star Wars: The Last Jedi Site Teases Story Elements
While there’s not official word on whether or not we’ll get an international variant of the trailer for The Last Jedi like we did with The Force Awakens, some information has appeared on a Japanese Disney site that clarifies some information on what we can expect from the returning characters…
An official Japanese Star Wars website featured a number of descriptions for the returning characters from The Force Awakens – although there’s nothing on any of the new characters. (Quick note: these are rough translations based on what Google Translate was able to come up with, plus a few creative liberties on my end.) The descriptions are as follows:
- Rey: Rey, now aware of the awakening power of the Force, travels to the hidden world of Ahch-To. She is looking for Luke Skywalker, who is the last Jedi Master in the Galaxy and the last hope for the Resistance. Rey was hoping to find a legendary hero – she instead found a man who disagrees with her expectations.
- Finn: Finn, a former operative of the First Order, previously dedicated himself to the cause of fighting for the Resistance continues the fight. Now, he’s at a crossroads over his role in the war.
- Poe: Now that the conflict between the First Order and the Resistance has escalated into total war, Poe is a shining as a leader of a courageous flying battalion. But while he is brave and a skilled pilot, both the First Order and the Resistance alike are starting to fear his dedication to the war effort.
- BB-8: A cute ball-shaped droid faithful to Poe Dameron who provided data key to finding Luke Skywalker.
- Kylo Ren: Humiliated by his defeat at Rey’s hands, Kylo Ren redoubles his efforts to crush the Resistance. However, although his powers in the Dark Side continue to increase, it is still not enough to impress his shadowy mentor – First Order Supreme Leader Snoke.
- Jedi Master Luke Skywalker: After his attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order was ruined, Luke Skywalker disappeared from the Galaxy in search of answers, leading him to the planet Ahch-To. Though he seems intent to live out a modest lifestyle away from the war, the Resistance needs the hero who defeated Darth Vader to stand a chance against the First Order.
- General Leia Organa: Leia Organa, whose son betrayed her and fell to the Dark Side, is leading the struggling Resistance fleet. General Leia takes advantage of her decades of experience in order to halt the First Order’s advances.
- Supreme Leader Snoke: Snoke, the shadowy leader of the First Order, finally emerges from the shadows to lead the First Order to victory after the destruction of Starkiller Base.
- General Armitage Hux: Although Starkiller Base has been destroyed, the New Republic’s leadership was eradicated by the superweapon’s only firing at Hux’s command. From the bridge of the Finalizer, Hux issues commands to pursue the Resistance.
- Captain Phasma: Captain Phasma, known for her characteristic metallic armor, escaped from Starkiller Base shortly before it was destroyed. Taking command of the Stormtrooper Corps, Phasma is determined to destroy the Resistance and settle a private grudge.
- Chewbacca: Millennium Falcon co-pilot Chewbacca, a faithful navigator, is now accompanying Rey on her quest to find Luke Skywalker.
- R2-D2: A droid with various abilities, ranging from maneuvering of spacecraft to decryption. R2-D2 has slept ever since Luke parted ways from the droid, but the Astromech was able to reactivate and lead the Resistance to Luke’s hiding place.
- C-3PO: The ever-worrying protocol droid C-3PO is more anxious than ever with the threat of the First Order on the horizon, but he continues to serve General Leia Organa faithfully.
- Maz Kanata: After Maz lost her castle, she has been forced to take a more active role and take advantage of her ties to the criminal underworld. She will provide crucial assistance to the Resistance in their fight against First Order, making use of every connection she has.
So there are a couple of takeaways from these descriptions. We finally have an idea of the role that Maz Kanata will play in the story – however limited her role may actually be, it seem likely that she will help provide the momentum that leads the Finn and Rose on their mission to Canto Bight. Hux and Phasma will also receive larger roles in the movie and will be actively involved with the pursuit of the Resistance (and, as we already know, Phasma’s grudge seems to be focused on Finn). More importantly, we get better insight into the story arcs of Luke, Rey, Poe, and Kylo Ren. As has been hinted, Luke is reluctant to get back into the fight and disagrees with the expectations that Rey has placed upon him. Poe is apparently so driven to the Resistance’s cause that it’s making even the Resistance leaders uneasy. And interestingly enough, Kylo Ren’s villainy may not be living up to Snoke’s standards – perhaps because the emotional baggage over killing his own dad has left him more vulnerable than ever.
All in all, it sounds like these story elements definitely line up with the suggestion that The Last Jedi is going to be a darker film, and one that takes the franchise into new directions. Only about a month and a half to go…
Special thanks to The Cantina user Magnar The Great for the find.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
The comments on Poe are intriguing to me. I hope he gets more fleshed out as a character in this episode.
Snoke seems to secure a “victory” in TLJ … it will be very interesting how RJ decides to end this second installment
“Captain Phasma, known for her characteristic metallic armor”
I’ve always wondered what the regular ST armor is supposed to be made of? Certainly I haven’t read all SW books and encyclopaedias out there, but it isn’t very protective for sure.
If I remember correctly, the in-universe explanation was that Stormtrooper armor was made from a substance called plasteel. Stormtrooper armor was supposed to absorb and deflect blaster bolts of moderate power unless shot directly at close range. But yeah, they do get shot up a lot.
Yeah, but now that we’re in the Disney family, it’s like…Vibranium from Wakanda, right?
Nope. Still Plasteel. Check out the last episode of Rebels Recon for this exact thing.
Thanks guys, it is not very protective but cool looking indeed
Adamantium?
Unobtanium
Back in the day, I believe that I remember the material in the armour being something called Imperium?
Really? Wow. That’s a deep cut. I don’t remember that. Was that maybe from the old West End Games books? I have a slew of them. I’ll do a quick look-see when I get home.
Well, I’m old with a fuzzy memory 🙂
How’s this for specific though?… I actually think I read it in the Star Wars poster magazine issue 1 or 2 – Periods of lucidity.
Holy crap. You’re as old as I am. I have a full run of those magazines in my collection. I’ll check later tonight.
When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not….Hmmm
The Japanese translation of the film title is actually “Han Solo Never Played Catch With His Son, So Look What Happened”.
Star Wars is starting to look and sound more and more like Guardians of the Galaxy by the year…
The Japanese title translation for “Guardians…” is “Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team”.
No joke.
Kylo Ren = The Diet Coke of Evil https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcGLveebwjo
Just to throw petrol on the flames of speculation – one other possible translation in Rey’s bit is that Luke is the last jedi in this galaxy.
Most interesting. Poe’s bit fascinates me. Out of all the characters in TFA; he had the least development. And this to me sounds like RJ is rectifying this by having him take a more active role. Which is great. Oscar Isaac is amazing.
Phasma wanting revenge; okay, sure. I am getting through the Phasma book and I can see why she’d want to settle a personal score with Finn. I mean what is more humiliating than being tossed into a trash compactor? And really, she needs to do something.
Luke’s blurb both excites and worries me. I know, two contradictory statements, but hear me out. I am excited, like many, to finally see Luke Skywalker again. I mean we haven’t seen Mark Hamill in this role since ROTJ which is nuts.
And while I have acknowledged that this Luke isn’t the Luke I am familiar with, a part of me fears he is going to be like Yoda. And I really hope not. For granted, there is a very good argument why. But to me this comes off a bit too much like Yoda. Overall, I will do my best to keep an open mind going in, but I am just being honest and upfront.
But regardless, I am SUPER excited. Especially, to learn about the First Jedi and finally get into the meat of this conflict. And knowing RJ; I am expecting some cool extrapolations into the Resistance and First Order.
And heck, the New Republic. Especially, considering that Hosian Prime is gone.
On a side note, I have a hunch Luke’s story in this is going to be mostly revealed in flashbacks. Namely, with his First Jedi temple. I will be most curious to see how RJ does this. Will they use CGI on Hamill to make him younger?
Because, if Looper is an indicator; RJ masterfully knows how to use a Flashback in order to add a ton of necessary context to a story. So If I am to postulate: I can see the flashback with Luke doing three things.
1) Explains what he did post ROTJ with Lor San Tekka and the First Jedi Temple
2) Showcases Ben’s instability and the challenges Luke had with raising a new generation of the Jedi
3) Revealing the temple’s destruction, the reason for Luke using a map, and why Tekka was on Jakku, along with Rey.
Acccording some books, he is on Ach to 2 years. and 6 years ago he was happily training younglings. Which, of course, makes the story of him been long lost ridiculous in TFA. Anyway that meansno needs of CGI, few yeats ago he would look the sa as now…
What I was going to say 🙂
My guess:
Maz knows DJ. He is on Canto Bight where he’s paid to slice (hack) the games. So Finn and Rose are assigned to find him and get him to slice something for them that is critical to the Resistance’s survival. Maybe Rose goes because she knows at least a little about slicing/slicer culture.
The Maz/DJ connection and Maz leading the Resistance to DJ have already been confirmed by most leaks.
Anyone else think they could be implying Leia is worried Poe is too willing to sacrifice himself for the cause? Just a thought.
If the translation is correct (which it may not entirely be), it could mean that Poe is going to learn (much like like young Obi-Wan did) that he’s fighting an unwinnable war, manipulated on both sides by a master puppeteer.
The only character description that wasn’t obvious was Maz Kanata’s.
I also think that there is new information about Poe, especially the reference to both the First Order and the Rebellion starting to “fear his dedication to the war”. Does that imply Poe crossing the line and being willing to win the war at any cost ?
If you are right and Hux gets a greater role in this I do hope we don’t get another example of that hammy speech from the last one.