Lucasfilm/Disney(ORLANDO, Fla.) — It ended with a screening of the new teaser-trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but the panel about the movie — held today at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida — also included some tantalizing nuggets.
The panel was moderated by Josh Gad, who’s posted a series of funny videos in which he grills Last Jedi star Daisy Ridley about the movie, and she refuses to answer. At today’s panel, Ridley, who plays Rey in the movie, finally said, “I can tell you some things.”
As you may recall, Star Wars: The Force Awakens ended with Rey coming face to face with Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker on a desolate island. Ridley says in The Last Jedi, we’ll find out what happens next.
“We go deeper into Rey’s story and what is very apparent…is Rey has a certain expectation as to what she might be getting from Luke…,” Ridley explained. “And as a lot of people know, it’s difficult when you meet your heroes, ’cause it might not be what you expect.”
John Boyega, who played ex-Stormtrooper Finn in The Force Awakens, says the movie is “a test for all the characters but specifically for Finn…Is he gonna be part of the Resistance or is he gonna keep running away…?”
The late Carrie Fisher will also appear in The Last Jedi, having finished filming before her death. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told fans, “Carrie is remarkable in the movie….the performance she ends up giving, I think you guys are gonna find that an amazing tribute to her talent.”
Director Rian Johnson also warned fans that “things are gonna get dire,” as the Dark Side gains strength. He also introduced a new character, maintenance worker Rose, played by Kelly Marie Tran. Johnson says Rose “isn’t looking to be a hero and she gets pulled in a very big way into an adventure with Finn.”
For Johnson, that’s the appeal of Star Wars: “Anyone out there, any of us, can step up and be turned into a hero,” he says.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens December from Disney, parent company of Lucasfilm and ABC News.
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.