Luke And Rey's Relationship Is The Key To 'Star Wars: Episode VIII'

We still know so little about Star Wars: Episode VIII. Does Tom Hardy have a cameo? Will Chewbacca rip some arms off a space Nazi? Will we finally find out who Rey’s parents are? (Almost definitely.) We do know Carrie Fisher already finished her scenes, and we know Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren will be showing more humanity. Thankfully, director Rian Johnson has revealed just a bit more about the plot.

The final scene of The Force Awakens — in which Rey finds Luke on Ahch-to and returns his lightsaber — is also the opening scene of Episode VIII, and Johnson spoke about that relationship between Rey and Luke to USA Today:

“I don’t want to skip ahead two years. […] I want to see the very next moment of what happens.” How Rey and Luke relate to each other is the key relationship in Episode VIII, and Johnson says “a large part of the movie” will be spent addressing why Luke’s there and what he’ll do next. Like Luke, Rey has been pulled into a bigger world by connecting with the Force, “but part of what she’s dealing with is the realization that she has this power and this gift,” Johnson adds. “She’s taking her first step to coming to terms with this thing inside her that she never knew was there and is just starting to reveal its potential.”

While she’s locked into an intense staring contest with Luke, we just hope he doesn’t demand too much of her…