Each new entry in the Star Wars movies introduces audiences to a new, crucial planet or two. From Tatooine and Dagobah to Naboo and Jakku and beyond, the universe created by George Lucas is as instantly recognizable as our own. Snow? Hoth. Gargantuan forest trees? Endor. Lava for days? Mustafar. Now, with Star War: The Last Jedi, the planet of Crait joins the list.
If you’re not sure what Crait is, you’re not alone. The name was exclusively revealed to Entertainment Weekly by director Rian Johnson. But we’ve all seen the planet. Think back to the trailer that was released at Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017. In one sequence, a line of Resistance ships speed across a salt flat, kicking up blood red dust in their wake as they head into battle against distant First Order variations of AT-ATs. That desert is on Crait.
It might have been possible to write off that scene from the trailer as visually stunning but narratively unimportant, until Disney announced Crait will be the new location for their Star Tours ride at both Disney World and Disneyland beginning later this year. This is similar to the push before Star Wars: The Force Awakens that had Star Tours guests traveling to Jakku.
In the name reveal interview EW did with Johnson, the director revealed a little bit about the planet. He said, “It’s way out there. It’s very remote. It’s uncharted. It’s a mineral planet and so there are mines on it.” In many ways Crait shares many similarities with the ice planet of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back. In the second part of the original trilogy, the Rebel Alliance is holed up in a base on a remote, inhospitable planet where a pitched battle breaks out. But unlike Hoth, it’s possible Crait is being occupied by both the First Order and the Resistance for its resources. Johnson’s mention of mines indicates the Rebellion once utilized the planet as part of their supply chain before abandoning the outpost. Whatever cause the nascent New Republic to move on will mostly likely be revealed when the Resistance returns to Crait this Christmas.
But what I love about Lucasfilm is its commitment to sparkle motion continuity. Crait might not be showing up on film until Christmas 2017, but the concept of using the planet has been in the works for months, if not years. When Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came out last year, a companion book by Pablo Hidalgo (one of the Lucasfilm Story Group creative executives) entitled Star Wars: Rogue One – The Ultimate Visual Guide mentions Crait in passing. This isn’t out of the ordinary; the book is peppered with biographies of background characters using places that have yet to be nailed down. But where Crait shows up is interesting. It’s the former place of employment of one Heff Tobber.
Like dozens of other background characters, Heff Tobber was given a quick biography and left to rot in the annals of Star Wars history. Until The Last Jedi pulled him from obscurity. Played in Rogue One’s by the film’s first assistant director, Toby Hefferman, Tobber was originally a Rebellion pilot stationed at the Crait outpost. He was reassigned to Base One on Yavin IV after Crait was abandoned for reasons currently unknown to fans. As part of Blue Squadron in the Battle of Scarif, he was on of the few members of Blue Squadron to survive Scarif. This means it’s entirely possible Heff Tobber is still alive and well — if likley grizzled — by the time The Last Jedi begins. As it seems unlikely both sides of the war would just happen to resdiscover a remote, uncharted planet that happened to once house a Rebel base, perhaps Tobber will make the jump from background extra to secondary character. It’s conceivable the Resistance is back on Crait at the behest (or against the warnings) of Tobber, a veteran of the war with the Empire and someone who would remember the old hidden places of the Rebellion.
Whatever the case, there’s something on Crait worth dying over. We’ll find out what it is when Star Wars: The Last Jedi arrives in theaters this December.