May the Force be with you, as you try to pick through the galaxy-wide rush of theories, spoilers and leaks surrounding The Last Jedi.
Del Toro is known to play a major role in the second film of the final trilogy, but his role is still shrouded in Sith-like darkness.
The latest report to grip tighter than a cloned bounty hunter suggests that the actor is playing a well-known character from the hugely popular animated spin-offs.
Is Benicio del Toro really playing Ezra Bridger – and how old would that make his character?
One previous theory spread like wildfire, after a website listed del Toro as Vicrum Fett, presumably a relative of Bobba and Jango Fett. That site has since removed the name, which could indicate a simple mistake or reveal that they had stumbled onto embargoed information and were asked to take it down.
The actor has said very little so far about the role. In one recent interview he merely commented: “It’s like I’m the villain.”
This is deliberately ambiguous. This would certainly fit the philosophy of playing a character like a bounty hunter with no fixed alliegiances.
But what about a Jedi padawan who has felt the pull of the Dark Side?
Ezra Bridger is a hugely popular character from the Star Wars Rebels TV series. He is a key figure in the early days of the Rebellion against the Galactic Empire after the fall of the Republic at the end of the Revenge of the Sith.
Ezra is another Jedi padawan who has been shown struggling with the Dark Side. In the canon stories, he is even targeted by Darth Maul, who tries to convert him to the Sith Order. He also faced Darth Vader at teh siege of Lothal and survived.
Assuming the timeline, however, all of this would make Ezra a similar age to Obi-Wan.
Surely that is far too old for a major character in The Last Jedi?
Except that in the Star Wars galaxy, technology and medical advances mean that many humans live to around 150 years on the core, civilised planets of the Republic.
We already know that Yoda was over 900-years-old and it is reasonable to assume that even human Jedi life spans are considerably increased by their contact with the Force.
Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan was playing a man just under 60 and looked every bit of his age. Meanwhile Liam Neeson’s sprightly Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was actually older. The more recent films are probably a more accurate depiction of Star Wars life spans.
If Ezra is a Jedi, being around 100-years-old, would mean he is potentially somewhere in late middle-age.
Benicio del Toro would then be a perfect match for the role.
Unfortunately, recently leaks suggest that we will see very little of del Toro in the first footage from The Last Jedi, which is expected to be released in a few months.
Daily Express :: Entertainment Feed
