And lo, on January 23, 2017, the movie formerly known as Star Wars: Episode VIII became a full-fledged movie with the announcement of its official title: Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
It’s a fitting title given that The Last Jedi is the follow-up to 2015’s hugely successful The Force Awakens, which ended on a sweeping shot of Rey (Daisy Ridley) handing a lightsaber to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the top of some remote mountain, in the hopes of getting trained in his Jedi ways.
What’s more, the Star Wars Twitter account promised, The Last Jedi is being billed as “the next chapter of the Skywalker saga.”
It's official. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is the next chapter of the Skywalker saga. This December. #TheLastJedi https://t.co/ySkVwQcMTP pic.twitter.com/eHrPgbsRJq
— Star Wars (@starwars) January 23, 2017
What does that mean, exactly? Well … who knows!
As with any tiny kernel of new Star Wars information, this title has kicked up more questions than it answers. Does “the last Jedi” refer to Luke or Rey? Or is Jedi actually plural, referring to a whole tier of Jedi who will be making some kind of last stand? How much will this involve dormant Jedi Leia, especially given that we know Carrie Fisher completed filming on a bigger role than she had in Force Awakens (and was, in fact, due for an even bigger part in Episode IX before her death)?
And hey, while we’re at it: What does the red Star Wars logo mean, given that it’s usually yellow?
Right now, the only thing we know for sure is that we could — and probably will — theorize about all these things and more until December 15, when The Last Jedi will answer all (or okay, maybe just some of) the questions raised by its title.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens on December 15.