Star Wars: The Last Jedi is apparently dialing down the lights in some ways, making parts of the story a bit darker, like Empire Strikes Back.
Spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
(Seriously, how haven't you seen it yet?)
Han died. Han was loved by many of the main characters in the Star Wars franchise. His death shook a lot of these people. So how are people like Chewbacca and Kylo Ren going to deal with this loss of a loved one (even though Ren did the deed.)
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Director Rian Johnson gave some insight on Kylo Ren and how he's taking the death of his father. Now, obviously he killed him, but it's pretty clear from the beginning that Kylo Ren is deranged. Throughout the movie, he's seen having a short temper and anger issues. Mix those with an unusually strong sensitivity to the Force, and you've got vanity issues and those rarely go hand-in-hand with being the good guys of the galaxy.
“He’s definitely been knocked off base,” said the director. “The defeat that he had at the end of The Force Awakens, but even bigger than that, his huge defining act which, spoiler alert, is the murder of his father… that’s the more interesting thing to dive into. How has he dealt with that in his head? Where is he at in terms of that act and what does that mean for him?”
In a way, it sounds like Han will have an even bigger impact on the story than when he was alive. “Han, the ghost of — well, not literally…" Johnson continues, "I don’t want to misguide. I have to be very careful with my words here. But a figurative ghost of Han had to be present throughout this entire film.”
But enough about the bad guy regretting his terrible deed he can never take back, what about Chewbacca? Chewie, Uncle Chew. Seriously, we can only imagine, as Han's best friend, Chewie had to have been there while Kylo was being raised. To see not only his best friend killed but at the hands of his surrogate nephew? That's got to be tough. But Johnson assures, "Chewie’s doing all right. It’s tough. It was obviously a big loss for him, but, you know, he’s Chewie. He’s resilient.”
This could really tread new ground for the Star Wars franchise. The loss of Obi Wan Kenobi was tragic, as was Yoda's, but in reality, neither we the viewers nor the characters knew the two of them for too long. At least, not long compared to how long Leia, Luke and especially Chewbacca had known Han. The connections are much tighter this time around.
