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Posted January 14, 2016 by Scott Davis in Features
 
 

Eight Things We Want From Star Wars: Episode VIII

In only its fourth weekend of release, Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to demolish box office records and demand most of the chatter on the internet. As fun as The Force Awakens is, it does leave many of its characters in interesting places and sports a lot of unanswered questions. Star Wars: Episode VIII may not be arriving until May 2017, but it’s never too early to start our wish list for what we want to see in the movie. Here then, with a warning of possible spoilers, are the eight things we want from Star Wars: Episode VIII.

 

8. More Poe

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Oscar IsaacOne of the strengths of The Force Awakens was how fun and interesting the new characters were. Unfortunately, Oscar Isaac’s character Poe Dameron was on the short end of the new character stick. He carried a majority of the first two scenes with his witty dialogue (“Who talks first?”) and his bromance with Finn (who wouldn’t even have a name if it wasn’t for Poe), but then mostly disappears for the rest of the film. Hopefully in Episode VIII we get to spend more time with one of the galaxy’s best pilots and the friendship between Finn (John Boyega) and Poe deepens.

7. No Death Star/Starkiller Devices

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Starkiller BaseSo the characters might have been one of the strengths of The Force Awakens, but one of the weaknesses was certainly the reliance on plot points and beats from the original trilogy. Ever since the poster for The Force Awakens was released and we could see what looked like another Death Star in the corner, fans were really worried. It was fine this go around because it was not the driving force of the plot, but something different needs to happen in Episode VIII. The First Order better have something else up their sleeves or this could get silly really quick.

6. Darker Tone

Star Wars: The Force Awakens The First OrderWhen it was announced J.J. Abrams was directing The Force Awakens, everyone kind of knew what to expect. Audiences were expecting something similar in tone with his Star Trek films, and that was what he delivered for the most part. It was a fun, fast-paced and energetic movie and although it had darker elements, it certainly was not as dark as it could have been. With Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick) in the director’s chair for Episode VIII, we want the series to get even darker. This could mean the rise of the First Order or leaving characters in dire situations (similar to The Empire Strikes Back).

5. Deeper Explanation of Luke’s Self-Imposed Exile

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Mark HamillSpeculation over Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) whereabouts began after the first couple of trailers and posters were released. The character was not a part of the marketing material for The Force Awakens, and for good reason. The opening crawl answered that question right away, although not completely. We know that things went awry between him and Ben Solo (Adam Driver), but why did the young Solo turn to the dark side? Something big must have happened for Luke to pull a Yoda and go into hiding, and we cannot wait to find out.

4. Rey and Luke Training Montage

Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker and YodaThe final shot of The Force Awakens features Rey (Daisy Ridley) presenting Luke’s lightsaber to Luke himself on the edge of a cliff. It’s a very effective ending and leaves many possibilities, but we want to see a training session between Rey and Luke, just like Luke experienced with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back. It would be cool to see the student become the teacher and see Rey get even more powerful. Not sure if Luke will be able to deliver any awesome life advice like “Do or do not, there is no try,” but hopefully he tries.

3. More of Finn’s Backstory

Star Wars: The Force Awakens John BoyegaAgain with the awesome new characters and wanting to know more. When we first meet Finn in The Force Awakens we see him struggling with accepting the First Order’s way of doing things. His stormtrooper name was FN-2187, but thanks to Poe he has a much catchier name. Outside of being the only stormtrooper to break free from the First Order’s command, we do not know much about him. What makes him special? Where did he come from? Is he Force sensitive? Also, how is he going to look after getting his back sliced by Kylo Ren? Hopefully we get a clearer picture in Episode VIII.

2. More Supreme Leader Snoke

Star Wars: The Force Awakens SnokeOne of the new characters that did get the short end of the stick was Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Outside of a couple hologram meetings with Kylo Ren and General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), Serkis does not have a lot to do in The Force Awakens. We are hoping he becomes the big bad guy of this trilogy and that we will see what he has planned for Kylo Ren’s final training. His character could also certainly help with the (hopefully) darker tone in Episode VIII.

1. Who is Rey?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Daisy RidleyThis is the question. This is what Star Wars fans have been debating over for weeks since the release. Who exactly is Rey? Is she a Skywalker? If not, why is she Force sensitive? Was she trained by Luke before he went to exile? Why was she on Jakku? How did she become so freakin’ awesome? There’s a lot we do not know about her character, yet she was arguably the best part of The Force Awakens. More of Rey and her backstory is without question the number one thing we want from Episode VIII.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.