Episode IX is less than a year away, and we’ve been speculating for a while already. Fans didn’t get the trailer they were hoping for this holiday season (yet), but there just might have been some intriguing clues. One in particular pertains to the role of Luke Skywalker in the movie, and it provides a few opportunities for something new and unique for a Star Wars film. Spoilers and speculation below.

The death of Luke Skywalker was a hard pill to swallow for a lot of fans. I wasn’t too worried, because like my other favorite Jedi, Luke has the potential to become a Force-ghost. That said, the sequel trilogy doesn’t “rhyme” in the way I would have expected. We know that Mark Hamill is in the movie, and the fact that he vanished just like Yoda and Obi-wan makes this all the more likely.

In his usual style, Mark Hamill has tweeted a message that I can’t help but read into for potential spoilers. Although he didn’t say anything about Episode IX, the hints are there.

Could it be that Mark is trolling us again, or is he just stating the obvious? I guess the possibility remains that he could return only as a flashback, but I find it hard to believe it would only be in a flashback. There are so many reasons why Luke will very likely return as a Force-ghost. Even if you buy that he will return in glowing blue, the question remains: how can JJ spin it to bring us something new? Here are two ways where Luke as a Force-ghost can change the game, and bring us something new.

Journey to the Netherworld of the Force

In an interview for Slashfilm Daily podcast shortly after the release of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson discussed his motivations behind why Luke dies in this film, as opposed to Episode IX. Rian expresses his point of view by saing:

When I knew that was his arc, I had the instant tinge of “that means that’s the place for him to…” because what else can he accomplish in the physical realm beyond that?

Rian goes on to say what Luke’s passing in TLJ means for Episode IX:

I don’t know what’s going to happen in IX at all, but the idea that there is more potential for more interesting things in terms of this role for the final chapter if he moves into another realm…

While we know that Episode IX is in JJ’s hands, and not Rian’s, this idea is intriguing. We’ve discussed this line of reasoning in the past, and concluded that some scenes from Luke’s point of view in the afterlife is intriguing. We’ve never seen the “netherworld of the Force” from the perspective of a dead Jedi. It would be something we haven’t seen before in a Star Wars film, and may provide links to fan favorites such as the Mortis arc from The Clone Wars. For a director accused of retreading old the same old plot-lines in The Force Awakens, this gives a great opportunity to differentiate the next film from all the rest. Perhaps the basis of this afterlife concept is seen in the recent Vader comic finale that everyone is talking about.

Force-resurrection

In a recent episode of Rule of Two Podcast, the idea that Luke could pull a new Force-trick was discussed. They called it “Force-resurrection”, and it’s just like it sounds. There are some similar ideas in Legends, such as the the Force-revival, but I’ve never heard of anything quite like it in canon. But how exactly could this play on screen?

As discussed by HiddenCity here at SpoiledBlueMilk, there is a growing narrative of Vader and Palpatine working toward bringing back the dead. Their motivations were not limited to ruling the galaxy, and Vader was very much working toward reviving Padme somehow. An exciting possibility would be if Kylo Ren “continues what Vader started” and seeks to build a portal, possibly underneath Vader’s castle.

One possible scenario is if Kylo ventures underground to the catacombs of Vader’s castle, possibly led there by the Dwartii inscriptions in Snoke’s ring, and discovers the portal. Kylo seeks to pull someone out of the portal, but somehow helps resurrect Luke. Or possibly, Force-ghost Luke sabotages Kylo’s plans, and uses this as an opportunity to return to the flesh. Admittedly, I have no idea how this would go down if at all, but I’m sure that the movie wizards at work here could come up with something cool if they want to go this way.

An alternative to this would have Luke do the Force-resurrection on his own. Maybe at a critical point in the movie to help someone. The Last Jedi firmly established that Force-ghosts can interact with the physical world. Yoda created a thunderstorm, and tapped Luke with his cane. So why couldn’t a powerful Jedi like Luke straight-up materialize?

This kind of Force-power by Luke, if done right, could help put an unexpected close to the saga, and maybe even satisfy the people that didn’t like how The Last Jedi dealt with Luke. I always assumed that Luke spent a lot of time studying how to become a Force-ghost under the tutelage of Obi-Wan and Yoda in the years before he cut himself off from the Force. If anyone is to pull of a Force-resurrection, it’s Luke. I can’t wait to see if and how they do something like this, but until then we’ll be speculating about it!

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cover art credit: darkmatterinc on deviant art