Which Characters Are Returning For ‘Star Wars Episode VIII’?
Star Wars: The Force Awakensdid a bang-up job of bringing us back to the galaxy far, far away. It did justice to our favorite classic characters while introducing fresh faces to fall in love with, including Rey and Finn and Poe. So now that Lucasfilm has us invested in this whole new generation of heroes and villains, what’s next? Who’s coming back inEpisode VIII? (SpoilersforThe Force Awakensahead.)
Speaking to Bang Showbiz (via theEvening Standard) atStar Wars: The Force Awakens' London premiere, Lucasfilm presidentKathleen Kennedyconfirmed that pretty much everyone would be back for the next installment of the series. “There will be a handful of new cast members inEpisode VIIIbut also all the cast members you see here tonight will be in it as well,” she said.
Cast members in attendance includedHarrison Ford,Mark Hamill,Carrie Fisher,Peter Mayhew,Daisy Ridley,John Boyega,Oscar Isaac,Gwendoline Christie,Lupita Nyong’o,Max von Sydow, andAdam Driver, so make of that what you will. It’s worth keeping in mind that this exchange took place a day or so before the film actually hit theaters, so it’s not as if Kennedy were about to start spilling spoilers right there on the red carpet.
Of course, if you’ve actually seenThe Force Awakens, you know there’s reason to wonder if Ford will really return, seeing as Han Solo dies in the third act. But there’s precedent for dead characters returning, and it’s also possible he could resurface in flashbacks. (There’s clearly more to the Ben Solo story than we’ve seen so far, for example.) So it’s unclear whether Kennedy is including Ford in her statement, or if she was just speaking in vague terms to avoid giving away a big twist.
Kennedy has specifically confirmedCaptain Phasma (Christie)andFinn (Boyega)will be back forEpisode VIII, and we’ve previously heard reports that Ridley and Hamill havealready startedEpisode VIIIshootingon Skellig Michael. Isaac hasmore or less confirmedhis return as well. In addition,Benicio del Torois joining the cast asa possibly villainous character. And word is we’ll be seeinga new female characterortwo.
In any case, Kennedy’s already looking forward toEpisode VIII, as are we. “We’re excited to get back together,” she said. “We start shootingEpisode VIIIin January, we’ve been prepping the movie for the last year andRian Johnsonhas been doing an amazing job.”
