I, like many others, can still remember a time in the not-too-distant past when it seemed that the Star Wars phenomenon had run its course—the prequels were awful, Lucas was a madman, and Darth Vader was an angsty teen. Yet, a massive, dedicated fan base, and an even more massive cheque from Disney brought the series back about ten years later. While that move raised a few eyebrows—it’s hard to picture Princess Leia standing alongside the likes of Cinderella and Snow White—it has ultimately paid off with at least four additions to the classic sci-fi franchise. Plus, considering the fact that Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox means that the alien queen from Ridley Scott’s Alien films now technically counts as a Disney princess, Jedi in the Magic Kingdom don’t sound that out of place.
Of course, like any good series of films, there’s a wide world of conspiracy theories and wild speculation to explore ranging from the relatively plausible to the completely bonkers. Sure, I suppose it is still possible that Rey could somehow be the daughter of Obi Wan Kenobi, but Jar Jar Binks is not a Sith Lord, and I’ll thank you to never bring that up again.
Despite the rampant, ridiculous rumors, there have been a handful of Star Wars fan theories that were later confirmed by either the movies themselves, the actors, or in one of the many television shows and comic books associated with the galaxy far, far away. You’d be surprised to see the kind of stuff that actually became canon!
20 Traitor!
While The Force Awakens has become something of a divisive entry into the Star Wars saga, there is one thing that everyone seems to agree on: TR-8R is awesome. Well, that isn’t officially the name given to the brave stormtrooper who takes on Finn in the rubble of Maz Kanata’s thousand-year-old space bar, fans simply bestowed him with a witty play on his lone line of dialogue.
In the book Before The Awakening, it is revealed that this brave soldier of the First Order actually has a personal grudge with Finn.
He and FN-2199 used to be best buds, and they used to train in the same barracks together. FN-2003, better known as the poor guy who leaves the red mark on Finn’s helmet in the film’s opening, is TR-8R (but his friends call him Nines). Finn might be loyal to his newfound rebel friends, but he’s definitely brushed off his old First Order allegiances.
19 May The Force Be With You
Star Wars fans the world over were shocked and saddened when news broke in late 2016 that Carrie Fisher, longtime actress and beloved film icon, had passed away at the age of 60.
While her passing was heartbreaking for cinema fans of all kinds, it also set up an unfortunate situation for the upcoming film’s writers.
In Fisher’s absence, Mark Hamill, the man famous for bringing Luke Skywalker to life on the silver screen, stated that Leia Skywalker would have played a major role in the yet-to-be revealed Star Wars Episode IX. As indicated by a fan theory posited following the release of The Force Awakens, the three films in the new trilogy would have focused on Han, Luke, and Leia respectively. The ninth episode is now allegedly undergoing major changes due to this circumstance, and fans can’t really be sure as to how the still-developing film will play out.
18 See You Around, Kid
Leading up to the release of The Last Jedi, little was known about what exactly Luke had been up to during his extended vacation to Ahch-To. While we didn’t really know the details, though, dedicated fans with a strong understanding of the previous film’s plot managed to suss out the plot of the upcoming eighth episode.
Luke would train Rey in the ways of the Jedi, albeit reluctantly.
What was not certain, however, was Luke’s fate; and, while some believed that Luke would follow in his father’s footsteps and turn to the dark side of the force, others correctly predicted that The Last Jedi would catalog the end of Skywalker’s journey.
Sure, he may not exactly be gone—his passing was very much akin to Yoda’s, who managed to make a return in the form of a force ghost. Luke won’t be making a physical comeback, though, that’s been confirmed.
17 In Exile
When the hype was really picking up for 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fans obviously wanted to know the roles which the series’ returning cast members would play.
Rumors had circulated of Mark Hamill’s involvement in the film, but nobody really knew what he’d be doing, or what his character would be up to in the new film.
Speculation on this matter ran wild; everyone and their mother had some theory as to how Luke would have spent the years since the fall of the Empire. While some nutters out there obviously tried to attribute Luke’s absence to their theories that C-3PO is actually Kylo Ren, Jennifer M. Wood’s 2015 Wired article correctly predicted that Luke had entered a self-imposed exile following some tragic event.
Soon after, the film confirmed this to be pretty much exactly the case, much like the leave-of-absence taken by Obi Wan following the events of the third episode.
16 Luke And Kylo Used To Be Buddies
Following The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren’s intentions seemed pretty clear: follow in Darth Vader’s footsteps and accomplish the goals his predecessor never quite could. Yet, we didn’t really understand his reason for pursuing these motivations, and we hardly had any idea of his origin story.
He was obviously the child of Han Solo and Leia Organa, but audiences were desperate for some answers concerning his swing toward the dark side.
Maybe it wasn’t that difficult of a concept to come up with, as crafty Redditors posited in mid-2017 that Kylo and the Knights of Ren were the inadvertent creation of Luke Skywalker. Episode Eight absolutely confirmed that theory, and we now know Luke’s ill-considered attempt at assassination to be a major factor in Kylo’s transition toward the dark side.
15 Kylo Ren Is A Double Agent… Sorta
Following the release of 2015’s addition to the franchise, some fans weren’t eager to accept pretty-boy Adam Driver as nothing but evil, and there was a ton of speculation concerning where exactly his allegiances lie. Given that he was the offspring of ultimate do-gooder Leia Organa, it seemed that he wasn’t completely beyond redemption. Sure, he did have something of a patricidal streak, but Kylo wouldn’t be the first beloved Star Wars character to have a hand in the demise of his own father.
And, as it turns out, fans were, in a way, correct about Ren’s status as a double agent.
Though he didn’t really betray the First Order, he did manage to turn the tables on Supreme Leader Snoke, and he fought beside Rey in what was arguably The Last Jedi’s coolest scene.
While he didn’t quite drop everything and follow Rey aboard the good guy train, he proved that, at the very least, he isn’t the obedient lapdog Vader was for so many years.
14 Don’t Choke On Your Aspirations
Aside from Yoda’s green muppet face and Mark Hamill’s aging mug, Darth Vader is probably the most recognizable visage in all of Star Wars… maybe even in all of cinema. If someone doesn’t know who Darth Vader is, they’re most likely a Russian spy and not to be trusted.
With that in mind, it probably wasn’t that difficult to predict Vader’s appearance in the months leading up to Rogue One.
The movie took place during the height of his reign of terror, and, if nothing more, Disney would have missed out on some major merch sales if he hadn’t been included.
Nevertheless, fans in 2016 accurately envisioned Vader’s role in Gareth Edwards’ film. Though he was onscreen so little that his role felt more like fan-service than anything else, it was still awesome to see Vader live and in the charred flesh for the first time since Episode III.
13 Duel Of The Fates
Given that the Star Wars canon was rebooted in 2014, I tried to keep this list to theories involving plot points that were introduced after the destruction of the expanded universe. However, I found this one just a bit too mind-boggling to leave on the cutting room floor.
Lots of Star Wars fans don’t like the prequels, the first episode in particular. Principally, I always found the duel between Liam Neeson and Darth Maul to be really epic, the finale of which saw Maul sliced in two.
While it didn’t seem possible at the time, some fans believed Darth Maul to have survived his encounter with Qui-gon, but Darth Maul’s demise seemed pretty concrete. However, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show managed to prove these conspiracy theorists to be correct as they eventually showcased the revived Sith sporting a pair of crazy cybernetic legs.
12 Rey’s Parents
J. J. Abram’s resurrection of the Star Wars film series left a lot of questions unanswered; it asked us to adopt Rey into our hearts, but it told us very little of who she was. While the mystery surrounding the character could be compelling for some, most hardcore fans of the film wanted some more definite answers. The end of the film made clear that she was force-sensitive, which caused some to speculate that she may be the previously unknown daughter of non other than Luke Skywalker, others believed Rey to be a character boasting no famous lineage.
The latter idea turned out to be true, as the eighth episode was clear that the old Star Wars characters should be left behind to make way for the new.
As Kylo Ren and even Rey herself put it, her parents were nobodies. In a way, this seems right; the franchise can’t simply focus on one lineage or one set of characters forever, it must eventually evolve and go beyond the Skywalker bloodline.
11 The Empire Strikes Back… Again
Many filmgoers complained that The Force Awakens was too similar to the original Star Wars epic A New Hope. The plot of the 2015 film indeed followed many of the same story beats as the 1977 classic: a ragtag bunch of rebels ban together and take down their evil oppressors and their maniacal super weapon.
And, as predicted by some during the lead up to the 2017 entry into the Star Wars saga, The Last Jedi was remarkably similar to The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the original trilogy.
Now, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Empire is one of the most highly regarded films in the series. Yet, it wasn’t hard to feel like the most recent movie was treading some extremely familiar ground as audiences observed the rebellion scrambling to flee a base as monolithic imperial walkers bear down on them. There were a few more crystal critters this time around, though.
10 Not A Story The Jedi Would Tell You
As we are all now well aware, the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise is not one the Jedi would tell you.
And, while he could save others from death, series fanatics will be quick to point out the irony in the fact that he could not save himself… or could he?
Some believed that Supreme Leader Snoke, the mysterious, apparently ancient commander of the First Order, was actually the return of Palpatine's favorite hero. The theory certainly gained some ground among galactic conspiracy theorists, so it makes sense that he could be the reincarnation of the once-powerful Plagueis.
We still don’t know much about who Snoke was. Many fans correctly thorized earlier on that Snoke was a simple plot device. As far as we currently know, Snoke is not Darth Plagueis, an old Sith, or even the return of Jar Jar Binks—like Rey, he comes from nothing.
9 Submit Your Blaster For Inspection
I wasn’t aware that Captain Phasma had such a following until I listened to some of the backlash following the seventh episode. No Star Wars film can be completely perfect, and fans will complain online about almost anything, but people were really, really upset over just how little screen time Phasma was given in the first entry into the third trilogy.
So, when it came to the follow up to 2015’s film, many fans thought that we’d get to see more of Captain Phasma than ever before, and we might get a glance at her unmasked.
Well, that theory is sort of true. While she doesn’t dramatically unveil herself Darth Vader style, we do get a peek at a bit of her face through a crack in her helmet which revealed actress Gwendoline Christie. Not exactly the reveal we were all hoping for, but it was an interesting inclusion in a set of movies that hasn’t given this character a whole lot of love.
8 A Puppet Again, He Is
As previously mentioned, there are a ton of things about the prequels audiences didn’t like. Albeit a rather minor complaint compared to some of the atrocities committed by early 2000’s era George Lucas, the decision to swap Yoda’s puppet form for a full CG render of the little green guy had some fans scratching their heads.
It would have been difficult to include Yoda in some of the lightsaber duels, but the puppet would have helped to two trilogies feel a bit more cohesive.
At any rate, fans of the smallest Jedi in the galaxy correctly predicted that Yoda would make a cameo alongside series staple Luke Skywalker. While that might not seem like an outrageous prediction, fans were desperate to reunite with the series icon after The Force Awakens allowed for nothing more than a literal two second clip of him and R2-D2.
Have you read the sacred Jedi texts? Page turners, they were not.
7 The Emperor’s Cartography Hobby
The public reception of Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: Battlefront II was, well, just awful, as we all know. But at the very least, fans finally made it known that predatory monetization schemes will not be tolerated in premium titles.
One neat little easter egg hidden within EA’s tremendous mistake did cause series fans to briefly rekindle their love before retreating back to their cold dens of cynicism. One mission in the game’s campaign tasks Luke Skywalker with infiltrating the emperor’s hidden observatory on Pillio in which they find a cache of imperial treasure.
Here, Luke gets his hands on one item of importance: a small compass.
Back in November of 2017, fans theorized that this compass was what led him to the Jedi temple on Ahch-To, a theory which was essentially confirmed through The Last Jedi’s visual dictionary.
6 Use The Force, Leia
The passing of series icon Carrie Fisher left fans across the galaxy questioning what her role would be in the then upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi film. While the script definitely allowed for the character’s demise, fans were shocked by a relatively significant plot twist.
The idea that Leia might be force-sensitive had been thrown around plenty of times before. After all, she clearly has a great respect for it, and both her father and brother are famous Jedi. Yet, prior to the most recent movie, there was no concrete evidence that she had enough Midichlorians in her body to be one with the force.
Episode eight basically confirmed that Leia did exhibit some abilities of the Jedi, as she was able to use the force to escape from the vacuum of space. Superman pose aside, it was a pretty compelling thing to see.
5 Han Definitely Didn’t Shoot First
For a lot of Star Wars fans, this felt like a stab in the back… or a lightsaber in the stomach, if you will. Many had assumed that Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be the end of at least one major character, but it was difficult to tell who exactly would get the axe.
Before the film officially released, a few souls managed to suss out the fact that Han Solo would be the one to meet his fate in 2015’s instalment.
It may never be fun to see a beloved character eliminated, but, given that this new trilogy seems to place an emphasis on embracing the new and casting away the old, the result of Han’s chat with his son makes a lot of sense. In a way, it was bizarre to see the end of Han Solo, a charismatic cowboy who saw his way through some of the most dramatic circumstances. But, if Darth Maul can survive, then who knows what might happen.
4 There Is A Great Disturbance In The Force
Of all of the fan theories I have read, this is likely the most outlandish one to have been confirmed. Constructing a theory like this a full year before its confirmation must have taken a tremendous amount of foresight.
The Force Awakens hardly mentions the origins of the First Order.
Yet, fans theorized in as far back as January of 2017 that the Knights of Ren were ex-students of Luke Skywalker turned to the dark side by some kind of tragic mistake. Low and behold, that’s more or less what happened.
Think about this, though: what if Luke had managed to end Kylo Ren? How could he betray Han like that? While I realize that Luke only sought to end Kylo for a mere moment before thinking better of it, it would have been a difficult thing to explain to his parents.
3 Search Your Feelings, You Know It To Be True…
This one wasn’t too hard to fathom for hardcore series fans. After all, we have already witnessed the reconciliation of Luke and Darth Vader, so it wouldn’t have been that difficult to imagine Kylo Ren and Rey joining forces.
That’s exactly what some fans imagined would be in store for The Last Jedi.
Though Ren doesn’t totally drop his whole evil gig, he does momentarily team up with Rey to fend off Snoke’s Elite Praetorian Guard, the same soldiers who once served as the defenders of Emperor Palpatine.
Star Wars purists might argue that they only fought together due to circumstance; in that moment, they both wanted to get rid of Snoke. Maybe Snoke let it happen because it allowed for a chain of events for which he had already planned...
2 Hey, That’s My Jacket!
Merchandising is a major part of the Star Wars brand, and it has a major hand in generating tremendous amounts of revenue earned by the franchise each year.
Merchandising, unfortunately, has also helped to spoil some fairly important plot points in the past.
Namely, a Finn action figure appeared to be clad in the exact same jacket as series newcomer Poe Dameron.
And, to the surprise of fans who noticed this, Finn nabs Poe’s jacket from the wreckage of a stolen TIE fighter. The jacket turns out to be important to the relationship between Finn and Poe as the famous resistance pilot later allows the former stormtrooper to keep the jacket. Thanks for the tip, Hasbro.
1 Luke Would Pull A Ben Kenobi
I think there’s a bit of a plot hole in A New Hope. Well, I’m sure fans have figured out tons of plot holes in the franchise, and someone’s definitely brought this up before, but why doesn’t C-3PO remember Obi-wan? Maybe he had his memory wiped, or maybe he just doesn’t recognize him, but you’d think Anakin Skywalker’s robot pal would see through the Ben Kenobi facade.
Anyway, based on his unusual stoicism at the end of The Force Awakens, fans managed to figure out that Luke would be a grumpy old hermit who would initially reject the notion of training another Jedi. While Obi-wan wasn’t quite such a glum old bag of bones, the resemblance between old Ben and aging Luke is pretty significant; both became old hermits with long beards who were betrayed by their former pupils.
I thought you weren’t supposed to run from your problems, yet that’s exactly what both of these once-great Jedi did.