EPISODE IX Speculation (includes SPOILERS from THE LAST JEDI)

[thwhtGuardian]

Luke will be alive and well in the next movie. Disney isn’t in the business of pissing off their fans so I expect most of The Last Jedi to get retconned.

That's a crazy fantasy you have there, may I book mark this and hold it against you when the film comes out and it's nothing like this?

[Serpico Jones]

They’ll panic and bring him back. Book it.

[Sacred Knight]

I'd take that bet any day of the week. There's absolutely no chance Luke is alive. He will be in IX, and he'll be in IX more than probably originally anticipated what with the loss of Carrie Fisher, but he'll be a ghost. Albeit a ghost that can and probably will interact with the world a lot more than we've ever seen before, what with things we saw Yoda do in TLJ (calling down lighting, hitting Luke on the head with a very corporeal cane)

[Buried Alien]

I'd take that bet any day of the week. There's absolutely no chance Luke is alive. He will be in IX, and he'll be in IX more than probably originally anticipated what with the loss of Carrie Fisher, but he'll be a ghost.

Force "ghosts" seem practically solid (when they want to be) these days. Do you think that's how they'll work it?

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Sacred Knight]

Oh yeah, like I just edited in, the things Yoda did in TLJ open up a ton of opportunities for Luke's role and his affect on the storyline. From what we saw Yoda do, its not even out of the realm of imagination to imagine a Force Ghost in a battle now. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they explicitly showed Yoda doing those things to establish those rules in advance for Episode IX in some capacity.

If we're genuinely looking at things that could realistically be "retconned", the only thing I can see an out for from my vantage point would be Rey's parentage. They could get away with a 180 there if they really wanted to (I don't expect them to. And frankly Rey's origin has started to win me over anyway). You can't with Luke's status.

[Sacred Knight]

One thing I think we'll see is that Rey has repaired the Skywalker lightsaber, but at some point in the film reveal that she's modified it, and has a second, identical saber that she created from scratch, that combine at the hilts to become a double-bladed saber.

[ChrisIII]

Oh yeah, like I just edited in, the things Yoda did in TLJ open up a ton of opportunities for Luke's role and his affect on the storyline. From what we saw Yoda do, its not even out of the realm of imagination to imagine a Force Ghost in a battle now. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they explicitly showed Yoda doing those things to establish those rules in advance for Episode IX in some capacity.

If we're genuinely looking at things that could realistically be "retconned", the only thing I can see an out for from my vantage point would be Rey's parentage. They could get away with a 180 there if they really wanted to (I don't expect them to. And frankly Rey's origin has started to win me over anyway). You can't with Luke's status.

That's pretty much what happened in earlier drafts of ROTJ. Yoda's ghost manifests in the final battle, creating a force shield around Luke when Palpatine tosses lightning at Luke.

Some aspects of TLJ took inspiration from the concepts of the early ROTJ: Snoke's chair is pretty much identical to the Emperor's in concept art, as the ROTJ battle scene was originally supposed to take place in the caverns of Had Abbadon, the Imperial city planet, which eventually became Coruscant in the novels and prequels.

[Carabas]

One thing I think we'll see is that Rey has repaired the Skywalker lightsaber, but at some point in the film reveal that she's modified it, and has a second, identical saber that she created from scratch, that combine at the hilts to become a double-bladed saber.

An oddly specific prediction, but it would be awesome.
She would need to get her hands on a second lightsaber crystal first though.

[Sacred Knight]

Haha, yeah, I just always thought she might have a double bladed one since TFA and establishing she's adept with staves. And now that the Skywalker saber is in need of repairs if its ever to be used again, I just thought hey, this is a way to give her a double-blade, keep the Skywalker saber, and at the same time still have her go through the trial of creating her own.

[Buried Alien]

I can imagine a double-bladed lightsaber where one blade is the Anakin blue lightsaber and the other blade is the Luke green lightsaber.

I really wanted to see those two lightsabers together in a STAR WARS movie, but it's looking less and less likely.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[BeastieRunner]

Well JJ, Boyega, and Ridley have said that Finn and Rey won't be separated this film.

That's on top of the time jump for an all-out war.

[David Walton]

So I wonder what extent they'll go to in hiding Mark Hamill's involvement in the film?

[thwhtGuardian]

They’ll panic and bring him back. Book it.

I'll book it, and double down, you'll have to use it as your signature so that everyone knows how silly you were. I mean, fan theories are fun but to think reality will match this one because you and a small segment of fans were upset about the way Luke died is absurd. Disney is a huge company and this movie made boat loads of cash, so what incentive is there to cave to the demands of a small group of people?

[Sacred Knight]

Even IF the movie was as poorly received as some people like to make it out to be (its not, its its a textbook divisive film, and something can't be divisive unless there's just as many people on the other end of the spectrum), the mythos flat out allows you to not even have to jump through ridiculous hoops because a dead Jedi can still show up.

[ChrisIII]

Luke's last line even seemed to hint at it: "See you around, kid". Wonder if he'll sort of haunt him a bit like his ghost did to Cade in the LEGACY comics.