Skip to main content

The first ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ trailer foretells dark times for the galaxy

Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Celebration event is in full swing right now, but you don’t need to be at the Orlando convention to see one of the biggest pieces of Star Wars news to drop this year: The first trailer for Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi.

The studio has released the first look at The Last Jedi today in the form of a two-minute trailer — technically, a “teaser” — for the highly anticipated sequel to 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The new trailer certainly delivers the goods, with a montage of scenes featuring Daisy Ridley’s Rey training to become a Jedi under the tutelage of franchise veteran Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, as well as scenes featuring many of the new trilogy’s other, fan-favorite protagonists.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper), The Last Jedi continues the beloved sci-fi saga in the aftermath of the events of The Force Awakens, which saw Rey discover her own sensitivity to The Force, former stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) find his inner hero, and ace pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) journey from one corner of the galaxy to another in service of the greater good. The previous installment also saw the franchise lose one of its most beloved characters, and The Last Jedi will likely explore the way its cast of veterans and newcomers deal with the fallout of that loss.

There’s plenty of impressive action to be seen within the trailer’s quickly paced two minutes. The short blip sets the type of dark tone you’d expect from a middle film in a trilogy, as well as revealing an intriguing message from Luke, saying “It’s time for the Jedi to end.” Just what this means and how it will affect the rest of the canon remains to be seen, but you can bet these moments are no more than mere iceberg tips of the deeper story Lucasfilm has in store.

Along with the aforementioned cast, The Last Jedi also brings back the late Carrie Fisher in one of her final roles, as well as Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, and Andy Serkis. Fresh faces added to the cast in this installment include Academy Award winner Benicio Del Toro, Academy Award nominee Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is scheduled to hit standard and IMAX theaters December 15, 2017.

Editors' Recommendations

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
The 10 best lightsaber duels in Star Wars, ranked
Luke Skywalker lunges towards Darth Vader during their lightsaber fight on Cloud City.

Star Wars has contributed countless indelible moments and images to our popular culture, but if there’s one artifact that is most intrinsic to the Galaxy Far, Far Away, it’s the fantastical weapon of the Jedi Knights, the lightsaber. From the very first time audiences saw Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader cross glowing, humming swords aboard the Death Star in 1977, we’ve been absolutely obsessed, and storytellers across multiple media and nearly half a century have been only too happy to indulge our craving for increasingly elaborate lightsaber duels.
Lightsaber fights come in all shapes and sizes, from emotional one-on-one bouts in live-action to wild animated free-for-alls, and selecting our 10 favorites from the franchise to date was no easy task. There are a lot of metrics by which to judge — the excitement of the action itself, how it’s shot, the story behind it, the use of environment, even the music to which it’s set — but the cream of the crop are those duels that either dominate one category or harmoniously balance each one. Will your favorites make the list? You’ll find we’re full of surprises …

10. The Ronin vs. the Bandit Leader (The Duel - Visions, season 1, episode 1)

Read more
Like Ahsoka? Watch these 7 Star Wars Rebels episodes
Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano aboard her shuttle in "Ahsoka."

The next chapter of the Star Wars: Rebels saga has come with the premiere of the Disney+ series, Ahsoka. Set years after the disappearance of Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn, the show follows Ahsoka Tano when she seeks them both out as she tries to prevent another war with the remnants of the Galactic Empire.

Since this is a sequel series, some audiences may have some catching up to do. But if they like Ahsoka so far, they should check out these seven episodes of Star Wars: Rebels.
The Siege of Lothal (Parts 1 and 2)

Read more
The 10 best Star Wars action scenes, ranked
Luke Skywalker faces Darth Vade in The Empire Strikes Back.

If there's one thing that Star Wars does better than any other space opera, it's action. Since the debut of the original Star Wars film in 1977, the franchise has continuously upped its action game and put other franchises to shame. This week, the legacy continues with Ahsoka, a new Star Wars spinoff series heading to Disney+. If the trailers are any indication, fans are in for more lightsaber action and intrigue.

When considering the greatest action scenes in Star Wars, we decided that everything in the movies, the live-action series, and the animated series was fair game. However, the franchise's epic space battles have been left out of this list because we wanted to focus on the more visceral action scenes between two or more characters. After all, that is where the greatest drama can be found, as you'll soon see in our roundup of the 10 best Star Wars action scenes.
10. Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith

Read more