The Last Jedi: What Pablo actually said about Luke and Leia

Pablo Hidalgo’s been at Comic Con Chile this weekend, and it seems that some of his statements have been lost in translation/misquoted/overstated, particularly something about the status of a Luke and Leia reunion. io9 reached out and got him to clarify. (Mind, he’s not saying it doesn’t happen, just that they were speaking of the Vanity Fair photos.)

→ John Boyega shows off Finn’s blaster for The Last Jedi on his Instagram. Like the rest of his new gear, or at least what we’ve seen, it’s basically the one Poe had in The Force Awakens.

→ Rian Johnson’s comments on romance in The Last Jedi sent some tremors through the hopes of a few of the trilogy’s shipping communities. Vanity Fair writer David Kamp shares the full quote in context.

Johnson’s shot of Annie Leibovitz shooting them, as seen in the Vanity Fair video. Shotception!

→ And finally, in spoiler corner, some Lego sets have leaked. They feature at least one newish vehicle, minifigs of Supreme Leader Snoke (which may confirm his new look,) Vice Admiral Holdo, a new(ish) variation of droid and a rank change for Poe. The images aren’t long for this world, but they are up at Imgur for the moment. (via)

Would you name your baby Kylo? ‘Cause a lot of people are

There were a lot of baby Kylos last year. The name jumped the popularity ranks from #3269 in 2015 to #901 in 2016, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration. So it’s not incredibly popular (to contrast, Ben was #704, and Benjamin is #6) but it is getting more popular. And note – it’s still less popular than Anakin, which is #778, up from #910.

At #175 Finn is the most popular sequel-trilogy related name associated with a major character – but it’s in been in wide use and gaining in popularity for more than a decade now, so we can’t peg that to Star Wars alone. Rey hasn’t shown any major growth, though it did jump from 904 to 868 (though as a male name – it’s not in the top 1000 for girls.)

As for the old standbys, Leia is #321, while Luke is #29. Poe, Han, Padme and Armitage (I had to look it up just for kicks) are all unranked.

What Rian Johnson asked J.J. Abrams to change about the ending of The Force Awakens

Rian Johnson had (at least) one request for J.J. Abrams about The Force Awakens‘ ending – to have Artoo go with Rey instead of BB-8, so the classic droid could be reunited with Luke Skywalker. Luke, naturally, is central to The Last Jedi:

“Figuring out where his head was at was the very first thing I had to do when writing the movie. I had to crack this. And it had to be something for me that first and foremost made sense. Why did Luke Skywalker go off to this island?” Johnson says. “That was the starting point, and that’s what the entire movie explores.”

So Luke’s self-exile – and his reasoning – is a key factor in the film.

Rian Johnson actually talks about Episode VIII

Episode VIII director Rian Johnson actually said something new! For USA Today’s 2017 movie preview, he said that “a large part of the movie” will address why Luke is on Ahch-To and what he’ll do next, as well as Rey’s “realization that she has this power and this gift.” It’s not the most shocking of revelations, but it’s more than we’ve gotten in quite a while.

Want some (possible?) spoilers? Keep reading. Continue reading “Rian Johnson actually talks about Episode VIII”

Luke Skywalker is 2016’s This Is Madness champion

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Apparently all it takes is some intense staring in a $2B movie to go from zero to hero in This is Madness, the StarWars.com character tournament.

After disappointing showings in previous years, Luke Skywalker not only made it to the finals, but won the whole thing, defeating previous champions Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi along the way. Newbies Rey and Kylo Ren also made quite a showing, facing off against Luke and Vader in the final four matchups.

This Is Madness: Hondo picks the Fate of Four

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I have returned, once again, to guide you with my wisdom. Yes, your fearless captain, Hondo Ohnaka, is back to tell you who to pick in the starwars.com ‘This Is Madness’ character tournament in the penulti… pe… second to last round. This round will decide which light side character and which dark side character will face off to see who the champion is.

Team Hondo 2016On both sides, we have a bunch of those laser-sword wielding Jedi and Sith. For the light side, it’s Luke Skywalker against Rey. And right now, Luke has the lead against Rey. Both grew up on the Outer Rim without their parents, only to be shown a larger galaxy by a mentor who was killed by a Sith in a mask, and then started to learn about their Jedi skills. Also, both are good pilots. But I think I will pick Rey, because she had a tougher lot – Luke had his uncle and aunt and got to live on a farm. Rey had no one and lived in a crashed walker. That can’t be good for your back. Plus she can fly the Falcon, which I hear is a pretty good ship. Not as good as one of my ships, but perhaps close. So Rey.

On the dark side, there’s Darth Vader and his grandson Kylo Ren. And Vader has a big lead right now. So I’m going to go with that. I think Kylo will probably get mad though, and smash up some stuff. Or punch his side to get him pumped up to smash some stuff. But Vader – I hear he just fought off his apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, and she is a serious Jedi. or serious former Jedi. And my friend. So I don’t like Vader at all, but I do respect him from a distance. Vader.

And for the finals. I’m going to assume that Darth Vader wins the dark side. If he goes against Luke Skywalker, I say vote Luke, because as you know, Luke beat his father at Endor, and that counts. If he goes against Rey, I say vote Rey, because I don’t want Vader to win. Yes, just vote for the light side, since they are more likely to not put me out of business.