Star Wars: Luke Is Alive (Maybe), The Mandalorian Casting, and First Movie Memories | The Cantina

Welcome to The Cantina where we definitely serve your kind. I’m your bartender Kyle Malone and I’m serving up tall glasses of nothing but Star Wars.  By now you know I am the dedicated, well versed in the EU, experienced gamer, and open-minded fan this world needs. I see the flaws in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, but also the great moments too. I know the importance of The Empire Strikes Back but see how strong Return of the Jedi is. I see that the prequels… well… we’ll get there… maybe. There’s nothing more satisfying than a great Star Wars story, and I want more! That newly promoted Mon Cal over there just ordered everyone some Mon Cal Seaweed Mash, so here’s to him and his career! Now let’s talk…

Recent News

Rumors, rumors, and more rumors. They’re fun to read and fun to discuss, but they are potentially spoiling so be warned. Also, The Mandalorian will be the next new Star Wars thing we get, after Episode IX, so it makes sense we’re getting casting news.

 

Luke Skywalker was a divisive character in The Last Jedi. Many people were upset with his portrayal, his motivations, and his “death”. In the Expanded Universe Luke was exiled after one of his former students, and nephew, caused major problems in the galaxy. Sound familiar? Luke also fought an incredibly powerful force user through projection. Again, familiar? Luke lost faith in his ability as a teacher, had grumpy moments, and essentially ordered his niece to kill her brother, Jacen, because Luke knew he couldn’t be saved… Now there are some people that had issues with Luke’s character in the EU, but mostly he was still loved. Why then are there so many that are upset with his character in TLJ? I could spend all day talking about how Yoda and Obi-Wan’s exile was similar to Luke’s but we’ll save that for another day. The point is that there’s no real reason to hate Luke in TLJ.

That was a fun tangent, but let’s look at this new rumor from Express. We know Mark Hamill has filmed scenes for Episode IX, and I have covered some rumors about his possible actions in that film, possibly in flashbacks as well as a Force Ghost. Now we are getting word that he may actually be alive in the present time of the next film. The supposed leak describes a scene:

“Luke Skywalker in front of Rey on a jungle world. In the background are ancient stone steps that lead to some rooms which appear to be a Jedi Temple of some kind. Luke appears to be in his physical form as if he is not dead, but he may be a Force ghost and more solid this time. No blue hue is described in the sequence. Luke holds his iconic green lightsaber hilt in his hand but not ignited as Rey examines it. This could be one of Luke’s lessons to Rey, teaching her how to develop a lightsaber like his own. Luke’s face has no beard and shorter hair – shorter than his hair on Crait. He wears a brown robe with white sleeves.”

Now I know what you’re thinking, the leaker said he may be a force ghost but just look different, but has there ever been a Force ghost that wasn’t slightly transparent with a blue light about them? I can’t think of one. combine that with the hair and beard description and I think we may be looking at what look meant when he told Kylo “see you around kid.”

 

While I am completely okay with Luke being dead, I could also be fine with him not being dead. He used so much Force energy that his body may have gone, but it may not be death the way we understand it. Additionally in a recent issue of the Darth Vader comic we learned of a Sith Lord named Momin whose spirit lives in a mask, can posses people, and can apparently bring people back from the dead. Vader has this in his possession on Mustafar, the planet Obi-Wan left him for dead on. So… Is Luke alive?

Related: Star Wars: Pedro Pascal In Negotiations Lead The Mandalorian

 

The Mandalorian has many people excited, and while the official synopsis is fairly vague it looks like it could be fun. I get the feeling it will have a lone gunslinger vibe, and the fact that it takes place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens intrigues me. To be honest, the new canon books have not done a good job of filling in that blank and things like The Mandalorian are why I think. They wanted to have the opportunity for movies and TV shows to fill in that history. With all that said, our news concerns casting.

Pedro Pascal (Game of ThronesKingsman: The Golden Circle) is in negotiations, according to Variety, for the title roll. This has a lot of people excited as his character on GoT was quite popular. We also learned that Gina Carano (Deadpool) has been added to the cast. That addition is intriguing because of her MMA past and how that could play a part in the role she is cast for.

Neither casting lets us in on any of the story, but it can help start building a picture of what we can expect. I personally hope for an action-oriented and focused story. One with little to do with the Force, the galaxy as a whole, and super weapons.

Last Call

 

Star Wars means so much to so many people. I think almost every fan can remember their first time seeing one of the films. It’s this thought that led me to ask other contributors to join me in sharing their Star Wars Moments.

I was around four years old when I saw A New Hope on a recorded VHS tape. I can remember the apartment near Tacoma, Washington, my father was stationed at the nearby Army base. I can remember being bored by certain moments of the film, mostly the stuff between the droids escaping the Tantive IV and the Death Star rescue, but being absolutely enamored with the lightsabers, X-Wings, and the Millennium Falcon. I thought Darth Vader was cool looking but scary. I also knew I wanted to see more. The specifics are fuzzy, but the feelings are clear. By the time I was six or seven, I had seen all three films of the Original Trilogy dozens of times. That first time led me on a path of absolute fandom, and I will always be thankful my parents knew how to record stuff off of the television.

 

Campbell Clark:

My earliest Star Wars film memory? Well, as the old man of LRM, we have to go all the way back to 1982 for me. I was 4 years old and Return of the Jedi was still filming prior to its 1983 release. We had not long got a hold of our first VCR machine and the Christmas movie showing on national television in the UK was Star Wars. We recorded it, adverts and all and throughout the course of that holiday break my elder sister and I must have watched it a hundred times and I kid you not. We would literally finish the movie, rewind the tape and start again.

I remember my cousins journeying to see us that holiday as well, after a few days there was another two avid viewers and we were running around playing our favorite heroes and saying all the lines from the movie. I always had to be Han Solo, if anyone else wanted to go Han I’d take the huff and stop playing. My favorite scene to recreate was Han chasing the Stormtroopers through the Death Star, only to turn the corner, panic and start running back the other way. Cue the four of us running about the house shouting “Close the blast doors, close the blast doors….. Open the blast doors, open the blast doors!”

To this day, Star Wars runs deep in my family, I have it, my Sister has it and my cousins have it. We have also passed on what we have learned, as now our children all love Star Wars as well. Though when it comes to Star Wars lore and ultimate geekdom, I am the grand master of my family. Never have a lost a family game of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit to this day.

It would be fair to say though, that was the point Star Wars got me. My first ever visit to the cinema with my family was a year or so later to see Return of the Jedi. I have seen every Star Wars film released on opening day or weekend since that day. And in total I think conservatively I must have watched A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back more than 400 times each.

Nick Doll: 

I was quite lucky with timing as far as my first Star Wars experience. Born in 1988, I obviously missed the theatrical release of the sacred trilogy… or did I? Still having not seen the movies, in January of 1997 Lucasfilm obviously released the Special Edition of the original Star Wars trilogy in theaters, and similar to my Spider-Man (2002) experience, everyone in my school saw it opening weekend but me because I at first had no interest. Well, my friends speaking of TIE Fighters and Jedi got my attention, so my mom took me and my sister to see Star Wars: A New Hope. My life was never the same. With my birthday coming up not three weeks after we saw the film, suddenly all I wanted were Star Wars toys, before I’d even seen Return of the Jedi. Though the Special Editions had some changes I don’t like as an adult, I am thankful my first adventure with Han, Luke, Chewie, and Princess Leia was on the big screen!


Well, that does it for today, everyone. Time to clean this place up. Don’t forget to help your buddies get home, and no drinking and landspeeding! What do you think about the Luke Skywalker rumor? Do you want him to be alive or dead? What about The Mandalorian casting? Let us know in the comments below. May the Force Be With You.

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SOURCE: Express, Variety, THR
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