Rian Johnson Reveals The Name Of The New Last Jedi Planet
The planet filled with blood-red soil has a name.
Take a look at the poster and the teaser trailer for The Last Jedi, and you'll notice splashes of red. The lightsaber that visually splits in half the faces of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Kylo Ren's (Adam Driver), the flames that engulf what could be a Jedi temple, and even the outline of the film's title slate are all red. But the most striking crimson-colored element are the plumes of (what appears to be) ash that are kicked up by speeder ships on a planet we hadn't seen before and didn't know the name of until now.
The Last Jedi writer and director Rian Johnson revealed to Entertainment Weekly that the mysterious new planet is called "Crait." The fresh addition to the Star Wars universe is "way out there" and "very remote," he said. "It's a mineral planet and so there are mines on it."
Johnson also commented that there are "beautiful design elements" incorporated into the world of Crait, and stated he hopes the Last Jedi team can bring some "really unique" aspects to it as well.
A handful of astute Star Wars fans may have noticed a subtle callback in the trailer scene that features Crait. The shot that shows the speeders bolting toward a pack of walkers is eerily reminiscent of the Hoth battle in The Empire Strikes Back, particularly the snowy-white visuals. While Crait's white crust may look icy, it's actually all salt. "The white dusting of salt [sits] over this red, ruby-ish mineral base," Johnson explained.
He then discussed a bit of Crait's history. The new planet was actually one of the very first things Johnson dreamt up while planning The Last Jedi, and is the site of "an old Rebel base" that's "now abandoned." According to Johnson, Crait's connection to past films will tie into Episode VIII.
"It ends up playing a key role in the movie," he said of the planet. He added that Resistance fighters are pivotal, too. They're the ones flying the ships in the Crait sequence, and are there to "deal with a very pressing and immediate threat."
When asked about the "significance of the red surface," more specifically if it could stand for both "blood in basic human nature" and "violence or family," Johnson nodded in agreement. "Go ahead and run with that," he said.
Perhaps there's a deeper meaning to Crait, one that goes beyond just the Resistance versus the First Order struggle. We'll find out for sure when The Last Jedi is released on December 15. In the meantime, find out why the film will leave us all speechless when it hits theaters.