In an unprecedented move for the franchise, it seems the final shot of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ will lead directly into the first scene of ‘Star Wars: Episode VIII.’ Which of course means that no time at all will pass between the two movies, which was definitely not the case for any of the other ‘Star Wars’ movies. According to canon, around 10 years passed between ‘Phantom Menace’ and ‘Attack of the Clones,’ and then another two years passed before ‘Revenge of the Sith.’ Then another 20 years (give or take) passed before ‘A New Hope,’ then another 2 years till ‘Empire Strikes Back,’ and then at least a year and half until ‘Return of the Jedi.’ And of course over 30 years has passed in the universe between ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘The Force Awakens.’ Having ‘Episode VIII’ start right where ‘Force Awakens’ left off is definitely something unheard of in ‘Star Wars,’ though it might help keep the momentum of the new story fresh and strong, as well as ensure the stakes remain high (we just saw the Republic’s main planets destroyed in ‘Force Awakens.’ It would be shame to skip over the years of recovery).
Anyway, the news comes from two sources, the first being ‘Star Wars’ scribe and keeper of the facts Pablo Hidalgo, who confirms on Twitter that the new footage recently released is actually from ‘Episode VIII’ and not reused footage from ‘The Force Awakens’:
@SteeleWars I’d say the presence of a certain director on it should make it clear enough.
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) February 19, 2016
The second source is young Rey herself, as according to Daisy Ridley while on the red-carpet of the Academy Awards this year:
“Me and Mark [Hamill] have been rehearsing a lot, and it’s really amazing. When we went back to Skellig to do the opening of VIII, it was so crazy doing the same scene with a different crew of people. He’s amazing to rehearse with, and I’m very excited to be doing the rest of the stuff.”
What are your thoughts on the lack of a time gap between Episodes VII and Episode VIII? Did you wish there would have been a year in-between for Rey to train a little bit in the ways of the Force with Luke? Share your theories and opinions in the comments below!
Source: /film
