With Celebration Orlando starting this Thursday (through Sunday), and the first teaser trailer likely premiering on Friday, we figured it was time to finally spin off a solo thread for The Last Jedi. And while this is NOT a spoiler thread, things like trailer descriptions (before a trailer hits) and very general plot speculation are fair game. That said, any plot specifics outside of the broadest strokes of the movie should come with spoiler tags, and let's try to keep even that kind of stuff to a minimum.

As for the impending trailer itself, nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but the Celebration panel in which it is rumored to debut will take place this Friday the 14th from 10:00 AM to 11:30 CST. The panel will likely be streamed online and will include headlining appearances from Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and writer/director Rian Johnson, along with "plenty of surprises and special guests." Again, a trailer is not guaranteed - and even if one does premiere, there's a small chance it could be for attendees only - but I just don't see that happening. And while there are some rumors that all we're getting is a behind-the-scenes featurette, most signs point to a trailer debuting publicly as well. I just want to warn everyone in case, for some insane reason, Lucasfilm has decided to hold off even longer.

Other than that, my guess is that the marketing schedule will roughly follow that of Rogue One...

- Teaser Trailer online in mid-April (and then in theaters with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 the first week of May)
- Second Trailer potentially at D23 on July 14, but likely later in August
- Final Trailer at some point in October

... though I could see them completely skipping a second trailer for this one and just doing one in April and one in October. Time will tell.

All I know is that I'm beyond ready to see the first footage from what could very well be, with Johnson not only at the helm but writing as well, a step up from The Force Awakens in so many ways...

As for broad strokes plot discussion/speculation, this is really all anyone knows at this point...

- This will be the first Star Wars movie to pick up directly where the last one left off, with no time having taken place between movies (in this instance, picking up with Rey handing Luke the lightsaber, though there's no guarantee that's necessarily the first scene).

- The look is said to be a mix of the prequels (sometimes sleek, sometimes lavish, ornate designs) with Game of Thrones. In other words, think more medieval space rather than sci-fi space, though I'm sure there will still be plenty of the later.

- At least some of REY's arc will obviously be spent training with Luke on Skellig Island (aka "Ahch-To").

- At least some of FINN's arc will apparently be spent posing as an undercover officer for The First Order.

- At least some of POE's arc will apparently be spent caught up in some kind of political turmoil between General Leia and whoever Laura Dern's character is playing or representing (potentially some kind of Hunger Games-esque aristocrats).

- At least some of KYLO REN's arc will obviously be spent chasing down Rey and Luke. A visit to Vader's fortress on Mustafar is said to likely be in the cards as well.

- SUPREME LEADER SNOKE will finally be seen in-the-flesh, quite literally, as he will apparently not be CGI this go-around, but rather a puppet/animatronic/prosthetic (it's not clear exactly which yet).

- CAPTAIN PHASMA is back and will have a somewhat larger role than in the last one.

- LUKE and LEIA will apparently have at least one scene together.

Sure, there are a few other details, characters, and locations semi-known at this point, but honestly, it's pretty shocking how little anyone knows about the movie right now, compared to the last one, so relatively late in the game. I'm sure that will change after this week, but it's honestly pretty refreshing.

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- At least some of KYLO REN's arc will be spent chasing down Rey and Luke. A visit to Vader's fortress on Mustafar is said to likely be in the cards as well.

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I think this is a big possibility seeing as how his fortress was finally shown on the big screen just a few months ago in Rogue One. It's still fresh in people's minds and will not be confusing to the casual fan now.

Pretty sure it was R2 with Chewie after they landed at Achto.

every time i see footage of the new movies shooting on location and not against a green screen, I get a little more pissed about the prequels and want to go kick lucas in the nuts.

jabberwalkie09 said:

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It can't come soon enough.

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That's what she said

I am going with Luke lives until the end.

No need to Force Ghost him to serve the story.

He was already the "Last Jedi" from the last trilogy. No need to repeat that story beat (in spite of them repeating so many).

It feels like people are over thinking the title. We can't forget that 90% of the audience are casual fans and they can't get too out there with twists, etc.

Luke is the last Jedi. There are other force users, sure, but the Jedi are 1 guy away from being extinct. He is TLJ right now. We know this already.

jr15aggie said:

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It feels like people are over thinking the title. We can't forget that 90% of the audience are casual fans and they can't get too out there with twists, etc.

Luke is the last Jedi. There are other force users, sure, but the Jedi are 1 guy away from being extinct. He is TLJ right now. We know this already.

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Except that we know that Jedi is this case is plural, though

wangus12 said:

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Urban Ag said:

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Going to call my shot now.

Rey will become the last Jedi.

Luke, at least at room temp, won't survive TLJ.

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Luke is supposed to be a mythical warrior at this point. If they kill him off, it better be in a 1v10 fight against KR and the KoR with him taking almost all of them out. Only then is it acceptable

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Only other acceptable death wouid be Kylo having the high ground

I'm not going to be able to deal with a Luke death... I hope it doesn't happen.

wangus12 said:

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Urban Ag said:

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Going to call my shot now.

Rey will become the last Jedi.

Luke, at least at room temp, won't survive TLJ.

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Luke is supposed to be a mythical warrior at this point. If they kill him off, it better be in a 1v10 fight against KR and the KoR with him taking almost all of them out. Only then is it acceptable

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It will be Luke and Rey against like several hundred or so. Luke sacrifices himself to save Rey.

I'm not sure. I think there might actually be enough Star Wars confusion over trilogy vs. SW story that it might take a bit of time to build up the view count.

In.

Put me down on the "hope Luke lives" category.