New Details of Benicio del Toro’s Mysterious Role in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’

There are many mysteries surrounding the upcoming Star Wars movie, including the identity of Benicio del Toro‘s new character in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

But with the release of a new one-shot comic book tie-in from Marvel on the way, we’re going to learn a lot more about the character. And now one of the comics writers is starting to open up about the enigmatic “DJ.”

Co-writer Ben Blacker recently spoke with StarWars.com about his new project, offering some new details about del Toro’s role.

Going by the moniker “DJ” in the movie, director Rian Johnson has teased that del Toro’s character will have a huge role in the battle between the First Order and the Resistance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but little else has been revealed.

We do know that he’s a former associate of Maz Kanata, who is working closely with the Resistance after the destruction of her castle in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Maz tips off Finn and Rose of his whereabouts, and those two travel to Canto Bight to secure his services.

Who is DJ?

While we thought that might be the extent of it, the new behind-the-scenes video about Johnson’s directing reveals that DJ goes undercover with Rose and Finn, disguised as officers, into the heart of the First Order.

The new comic, with art by Kev Walker and co-written by Ben Acker, will be set before the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so fans will get to know a bit more about the character.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t come out until January 31, 2018, but Ben Blacker was still willing to reveal some details.

” DJ is a character new to the Star Wars universe, created by Rian Johnson for The Last Jedi,” said Blacker. “Our one-shot will show you what DJ was doing right up to the moment before we meet him in the film. You’ll definitely get some insights into DJ’s worldview, which is a more complicated and, in many ways, darker perspective than we’ve seen in the Star Wars universe.”

It sounds like DJ won’t be a clear hero or villain in the film, but will have a perspective that’s been tainted after experiencing a lifetime of war. He might not think positively about the Resistance or the First Order.

So how do Finn and Rose get him to help out?

Light or Dark?

Given that Lucasfilm is always so secretive about their stories before they’re released, it’s amazing that Blacker has access to some of the information ahead of time.

The writer provided some insight into the process of collaborating with Lucasfilm on such a secretive project.

“There was a lot of back and forth with Lucasfilm about both the setting and the character,” Blacker said. “The story takes place on a planet seen in the new movie, so there was a lot of info to learn about that location and how it works.”

It sounds like we’ll get to see more of Canto Bight, which will also be the subject of a new anthology book coming out soon.

“More conversation, however, went into DJ’s character and the way he interacts with the world,” Blacker said. “He isn’t a ‘man of action’ like so many Star Wars characters. He’s crafty and more than a bit mercenary. Lucasfilm did a great job in sort of boiling down DJ’s worldview to one sentence and, hopefully, that character thesis statement comes across on every page.

And, as usual, Story Group was terrific about suggesting new alien species, vehicles, and the like that tie this story to the greater Star Wars universe.”

Interesting, we wonder what that “one sentence” is…

Hopefully we find out when Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15.

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