'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Director Reveals The Film Almost Had A Different Ending Scene

The Last Jedi proved to be one of the most unpredictable chapters in the Star Wars saga, right down to the film's final moments. Shortly after seeing a group shot of what remained of the Resistance in the Millennium Falcon, writer/director Rian Johnson cut to a stable boy on Canto Bight that audiences knew virtually nothing about. The filmmaker shared with Empire just how important these moments were to the future of the saga.

"That was something I really stuck to, and believe me, we went back and forth in the editing room," Johnson shared. "In the script, when I wrote that scene in the Falcon, I wrote the words, 'This seems like the perfect image to end on.'"

Many of the films in the series rely on group scenes to conclude their story, teasing to the audience that not only did our heroes survive the journey, but these are the characters we'll see more of in the next chapter. Instead, Johnson cut from well-known characters to the unknown kids in the stable.

"To me, it was really important to have that final scene, because it turns what Luke did from an act that saves 20 people into an act that inspires the galaxy," Johnson confessed. "The notion that what we're setting up here is something big in the next chapter. And when Leia says, 'We have everything we need,' she's talking about everyone on the Falcon, but also about what we see next, which is we now have a galaxy that has seen this beacon of hope and is getting inspired to fight the good fight."

One of the major themes prevalent throughout The Last Jedi was that of legends and of ego. Luke blamed his ego for believing he was an "all-powerful" Jedi that was capable of training Ben Solo, but his failure as a teacher led to Ben's embrace of the Dark Side. The former Jedi also believed that it was his devotion to legendary Jedi that shook his faith in the religion, leading to his self-imposed exile.

Luke's actions of embracing the Light Side of the Force to confront Kylo Ren seemingly contradicted much of what he had been saying throughout most of the film, as those actions helped further the legends of Luke Skywalker and inspire hope in the darkest of places that it's worth standing up to oppression, even in the face of certain failure.

You can see The Last Jedi in theaters now.

[H/T Empire]