10 Best Moments Of Foreshadowing In Star Wars History

Movie studios will typically go to great lengths to avoid spoilers being leaked before a release. From social media hashtags, to filming multiple endings to throw off the scent, there are numerous ways this can be done. On the other side of that coin however, is when movies secretly tell the audience exactly what is going to happen.

Foreshadowing is when a story hints or teases plot points or major reveals throughout, usually in such a subtle way that they aren't picked up at the time, but can't be missed on subsequent rewatches. This is something that the Star Wars franchise has utilised a lot over the years.

This can be something tricky to master, as the moment can seem inconsequential if not emphasised enough, but too obvious if telegraphed too much. There are those times, though, when that perfect sweet spot has been hit in a galaxy far, far away.

From telling visions, to ominous warnings and characters outright explaining exactly what they are going to do in a way that keeps the audience from suspecting anything, it's amazing just how much effort Star Wars has put into showing fans exactly what they can expect before it ever happens.

Though the Star Wars prequels introduced a multitude of brand new characters to the franchise, these were joined by familiar names telling a story that audiences ultimately already knew the ending of. However, the sequels had few apparent ties to the original trilogy to begin with, aside from the obvious.

It was the job of J.J. Abrams to make those connections, one of which came when Rey found Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. The weapon was in the possession of Maz Kanata, something that is yet to actually be explained, and it called to the new hero of the galaxy.

When Rey touched the lightsaber, she was launched into a vision. This showed the setting of Rey's battle with Kylo Ren among the trees at the end of the movie, but it also foreshadowed a part of Luke's history. She saw the hooded Jedi reach out and touch R2-D2 with his metal hand, a scene that would ultimately be shown in The Last Jedi.

This was one of the few threads brought to the table by J.J. Abrams that was paid off properly by Rian Johnson, as the sequel confirmed that what Rey saw was the fallout of Kylo Ren's attack on his uncle's Jedi Academy.