Rian Johnson Explains Luke Skywalker’s New Power in ‘Star Wars: Last Jedi’

Sorry nerds, the seemingly out-of-the-blue new ability is actually part of Jedi canon

Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill Star Wars The Last Jedi Boba Fett
Disney/Lucasfilm

Spoilers for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ahead. Do not read on unless you’ve seen the film, which was released Dec. 15 and has made over $1 billion dollars.

Director Rian Johnson spent Friday afternoon on Twitter settling some of the lingering debates about elements of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” One of the biggest, complaints from fans that Johnson just made up a new force ability for Luke Skywalker as a plot contrivance. Sorry nerds: turns out that new ability has been official canon for nearly a decade.

SPOILER WARNING! The climactic final battle in “The Last Jedi” saw Luke Skywalker confront Kylo Ren on Crait, only for it to be revealed that he’s actually doing a long-distance Force-projection of himself to use as a decoy to allow the Resistance to escape.

In a series of Tweets , Johnson hared proof that “Force Doppelgangers,” or “Similfuturus,” were first explained in the official Lucasfilm book “The Jedi Path,” by Daniel Wallace, under the heading of “Advanced Force Techniques.” That book was released in 2011, a full six years before “The Last Jedi” was released in theaters.

Check out Johnson’s tweets below.

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398041598918656

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398119185256449

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398199694770176

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398249346936833

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398324760563712

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398403986731008

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954398483112275969

While he was at it, Johnson also explained how Leia was able to use the force to save herself early in the film.

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/954450836964306944

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is currently in theaters.

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