He’s the best damn pilot in the galaxy – not this one, mind you, but Disney’s galaxy far, far away – and after spearheading the Resistance assault on Starkiller Base two years ago, it’s been revealed that by the time Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in December, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) will have forged a familial bond with General Leia Organa.
Brought to life one last time by the late, great Carrie Fisher, The Last Jedi will find Leia instilling a sense of hope into the otherwise broken Resistance, as Finn and Rey and the rest of the crew lick their wounds – both literal and figurative – after the calamitous events of The Force Awakens.
The Republic has been brought to its knees, annihilated as a sadistic display of power by the First Order, which leaves the Resistance in a “very, very vulnerable” state. But it’s not all doom and gloom; as Oscar Isaac outlined the mother-son bond brewing between Poe and Leia, who almost considers his X-Wing pilot to be her “surrogate son.” And after losing Ben Solo (AKA Kylo Ren) to the alluring Snoke and the dark side of the Force, this fledgling relationship is music to our ears.
Poe is in some ways a surrogate son for Leia. But also I think she sees in him the potential for a truly great leader of the Resistance and beyond. Poe’s arc is one of evolving from a heroic soldier to a seasoned leader, to see beyond the single-mindedness of winning the battle to the larger picture of the future of the galaxy. I think Leia knows she won’t be around forever and she, with tough love, wants to push Poe to be more than the badass pilot, to temper his heroic impulses with wisdom and clarity.
Indeed, this mother-son bond will no doubt add another layer of intrigue to what is sure to be a poignant, emotional performance from Carrie Fisher. As for Leia herself, she’s also coming to terms with the death of Han and a brother in exile. Yes, after watching his Jedi Academy crumble to the ground, Luke has retreated to the far-flung planet of Ahch-To, though Mark Hamill’s wise old Jedi Master is by no means the only one populating that primordial rock, as yesterday brought forth another porg close-up and our first peek at the nun-like Caretakers.
Meanwhile, and as previously reported, Laura Dern is attached to play Vice Admiral Holdo, a commander in the Resistance who has ties to Leia Organa. But is she an ally? Or a potential foe? We’ll find out very soon indeed.
Treading the same path as The Force Awakens and Rogue One, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the next big-name blockbuster to come out of Disney and Lucasfilm. But can it match the dizzying heights of its predecessors? We’ll find out on December 15th.