Rian Johnson, the director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, says he considered using Anakin’s force ghost in the movie instead of Yoda.
One of the biggest surprises of The Last Jedi was the moment that Yoda appeared as a force ghost to Luke. It was a great moment but director Rian Johnson did consider another character to give Luke council at this time.
Responding to a fan on Twitter, Johnson said he considered Anakin Skywalker to make an appearance to his son Luke. However, it wasn’t quite right for the moment:
“Briefly for the tree burning scene, but luke’s relationship was with Vader not really Anakin, which seemed like it would complicate things more than that moment allowed. Yoda felt like the more impactful teacher for that moment.”
Briefly for the tree burning scene, but luke’s relationship was with Vader not really anakin, which seemed like it would complicate things more than that moment allowed. Yoda felt like the more impactful teacher for that moment.
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) December 1, 2020
Replacing Yoda with Anakin would certainly have changed that scene a lot and while Johnson’s explanation makes sense, it would have been pretty great to see father and son reunited again. At least we got to hear Anakin’s force ghost speak to Rey in Episode IX, however briefly.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park).
