“Coruscant, the capital of the Republic. The entire planet is one big city.”
With its thriving cities and shimmering skyscrapers, Coruscant (AKA the Imperial Center) was arguably one of the cornerstones underpinning George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy. Designed to whisk viewers back to the early days of Lucasfilm’s far-away galaxy, when the Republic was teetering on the verge of a calamitous civil war, those widely-derided prequel movies helped flesh out the series lore, given the Jedi Order was actually located on Coruscant. So too was the all-powerful Jedi Temple.
And it seems that legacy isn’t lost on Rian Johnson. With The Last Jedi fast approaching, Screen Rant has compiled a rather interesting theory that draws a link between Ahch-To and the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Citing the sequel’s most recent trailer, in which Rey journeys toward Luke’s hideout, the outlet claims Ahch-To (AKA the first Jedi Temple) was the inspiration behind Coruscant’s own shrine.
The Rebellion Starbird has been a symbol familiar to fans since 1977, and while there’s still no official connection, it appears to have a clear inspiration drawn from the Jedi symbol seen on the shoulder of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s armor in The Clone Wars animated series and on the cover of an ancient book in the first trailer for The Last Jedi.
It’s admittedly a bit of a stretch, but it does present some food for thought: if J.J. Abrams was tasked with resurrecting a dormant giant and acclimating modern audiences to the Star Wars legacy, then perhaps The Last Jedi and Episode IX will deep dive into the franchise’s history?
After all, screenwriter Chris Terrio (Justice League) has vowed to unify all three trilogies with his script for Episode IX, so we can surely expect more than a few callbacks to the prequel era.
First up though is Star Wars: The Last Jedi on December 15th of this year, before Lucasfilm’s current trilogy winds down with the release of Episode IX in 2019. Sandwiched between those two titans is Solo: A Star Wars Story, which is due to arrive in May of 2018.