Star Wars: John Boyega Teases Time Jump For 'Episode IX'

Star Wars: Episode IX is set to begin shooting this summer and, among many of the narrative's mysteries, fans are curious about how far into the future the story will take place. During a recent interview, star John Boyega teased that he's begun to grow out his hair, potentially teasing the story has a larger period of time between the previous film than witnessed between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.

"I can't wait to start shooting the next and final leg of the franchise," Boyega shared with Yahoo! Finance. "The first step is growing out my hair, so you can wait for the trailer to see why."

The final moments of The Force Awakens were depicted early on in The Last Jedi, teasing that very little time had passed. If Boyega needs to grow out his hair for the next few months, we can expect a similar jump forward in time for the events of Episode IX to begin.

It's tough to determine whether or not the plan for this third chapter in the sequel trilogy involved a jump forward in time originally, though we can assume at least one reason for the passage of time between films being to explain the absence of Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa. With the actress' passing following the filming of her parts on The Last Jedi, many audiences wondered how the saga would handle the absence of the character in future films. Rather than attempt to wrap up her story, The Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson chose to keep her performance intact, requiring the next film to use exposition justifying why she's no longer involved with the Resistance.

This is only the latest tease Boyega has offered fans, having previously revealed the massive scale of the next chapter.

"Next for me filming wise is Star Wars: Episode IX in July, and they've officially given us a note to start training soon," Boyega recently shared during a press event. "I'm going to take a holiday before that, because I think Episode IX you know, regardless of where the story goes, and I haven't read it by the way, is going to be all-out war so I know that I'm going to have to do all I can and train for that."

Fans can see Episode IX when it lands in theaters on December 20, 2019.

What are you hoping to see in the next film? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T Yahoo! Finance]