The latest Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi trailer aired earlier this month and revealed a heck of a lot, which triggered my frustration at trailer culture. The morphing of trailers from a general sketch of the premise to a comprehensive beat map of the entire film, signifies the lack of confidence studios have in their tentpoles. Thankfully, there’s one element in The Last Jedi that was left to be surmised: whether or not Luke Skywalker will wield a lightsaber potentially says a lot about where this franchise is headed.
I probably liked The Force Awakens as much as everyone else did at the time of its release and a great deal more than most since. For whatever reason that’s how these things work. Have you noticed that? Blockbusters that resonate too hard with fans are invariably due for some serious backlash in the months following their release. The Force Awakens played it safe (because it had to), but it also laid some interesting groundwork, namely the unique depiction of the Jedi Master trope. Luke isn’t being framed like Obi Wan of the original trilogy. He isn’t a slave of the Jedi Order and he isn’t subdued or even really sage like. He’s a bitter, brooding old grouch that doesn’t seem to want to be bothered. I like that.
The only thing that would complete this picture more is if Luke abstains from using a lightsaber. I like the idea of Luke being a disgruntled force user that has fostered antipathy for the Jedi Order over the years. Considering the Order’s hand in turning Vader into the genocidal maniac he is in the original trilogy, their insistence that Luke not defy his training to save his friends that were in imminent danger and the mass murder of his students at the hand of his nephew, Kylo Ren, Skywalker has more than enough reasons to not only rebuke the teachings of the Jedi, but have a particular aversion toward all of it.
Moreover, we only saw Obi Wan use his lightsaber twice in the original trilogy, and The Emperor and Yoda never used one at all. It seems to imply that the more in tuned a Jedi is with the force, the more powerful they are, and the less dependant on a laser sword they become. Maybe he carries the kyber crystal from his green saber on his neck, that’d be cool. Or maybe he keeps it a drawer next to his bed in case of home invasions, I don’t know, I just don’t know that I want to see him duel anyone in the film with it.
A grizzled, resentful Jedi Master should have no need for physical weapons, in my opinion
