Another day, another Luke Skywalker-related Star Wars: Episode IX rumor, but while this latest claim has as little solid evidence behind it as the rest of the hearsay around Mark Hamill’s character, it at least offers an interesting and fairly plausible idea for a scene featuring the saga’s most famous Jedi.
The rumor comes as part of a larger Reddit report shared by user Temiriblagg1, who claims to have got their information “from various sources around the pinewood set.” The post alleges that Luke is involved in a flashback sequence also featuring Han Solo and Leia Organa, who are seen dropping off their 8-year-old son Ben for Jedi training. It’s added that the child later known as Kylo Ren will tell Luke that he wants to be a Jedi and a guardian of the good in the galaxy.
It’s perhaps worth noting that a moderator on the StarWarsLeaks subreddit has said that while some of Temiriblagg1’s information checks out against their own sources, other claims seem false, though they don’t specify which of these two categories the Skywalker flashback falls into.
Regardless, it’s easy to imagine J.J. Abrams looking for an excuse to reunite Luke, Leia and Han for the grand finale of the Sequel Trilogy, and this scene sounds like one way to do it without diverting too much from the main focus of the film, since this could also be a key moment for Kylo. There’s even been some speculation in the comments that this sequence might rework a deleted scene from The Force Awakens that showed up in a previously leaked shooting schedule, which sounds very much in line with Abrams’ reported plans for Leia.
In any case, we’ll find out if there’s any substance to these claims when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.