There’s a spoiler for Star Wars: Episode VII going around the Internet that a lot of people are arguing about. The Internet seems split on whether it’s true or not. And far be it from us not to weigh in. Be warned that anything discussed beyond this point is potentially a spoiler for the ending of Star Wars: Episode VII.
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So, that spoiler is about the ultimate twist at the end of the movie. Our heroes burst into a throne room, and confront a growing, dangerous evil that has been attacking them at every turn. That evil looks at them, removes his hood, and it’s…
Let’s season this rumor with salt, shall we? It comes from a message board, and if you click the link above, the site primarily responsible for this rumor seems split over whether it’s true or not. On the one hand, it’s a J.J. Abrams movie, and Abrams is notable both for huge twists and ridiculous amounts of misdirection to keep fans guessing. On the other, this is pretty much exactly the kind of thing a guy who wrote a Superman script where Lex Luthor is secretly a Kryptonian would think was a brilliant ending to his movie.
Do I buy this rumor? Not for a minute, honestly, and for a few reasons. One, Lucas may not have a vote, but he would never allow it and would throw a massive fit if it were actually going to happen. Two, as the link above notes, none of the concept art of the bad guy features him with a beard, and Hamill’s got a big-ass chinwarmer hanging off his face. The movie’s currently shooting, and unless he’s got a convincing fake beard he’s wearing off the set, no way. Three, this sounds very much like a potential ending scrapped during the development process.
That said, there are a few ways all of this makes sense. The first is that the plot McGuffin doesn’t actually belong to Luke. Think about the rumored opening of this movie, about the lightsaber and more importantly the hand attached to it. First of all, if that’s Luke’s hand, and it’s from Empire… how the hell did it get into space anyway? And how did it survive the impact? A human hand would not do that, of course, but Vader’s robohand might. Also remember that the rumored bad guys in the next two movies are revived Sith, and the Sith revival gimmick has to come from somewhere.
Another way it could work is that it’s not the real Luke who’s the bad guy, but a clone of him… and he wants that hand. It is exactly like Abrams to make us think it’s the lightsaber that’s the big deal when it’s actually the hand, and they can say it’s full of Force power or whatever. There’s a long tradition of poorly named Luke Skywalker clones in Star Wars mythology, after all. Also consider that, according to rumor, John Boyega is playing a clone trooper who broke free from his programming, so that would fit in with the theme; a Luke clone with daddy issues and no actual Force powers of his own would be a fun bad guy.
We will, of course, find out December 18th, 2015. But until then, be skeptical.
