10 Simple Fixes That Would Have Saved Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker

7. ...And Luke Skywalker As A Ghost To Haunt Ben

Luke Skywalker Last Jedi Death Mark Hamill star wars
Lucasfilm

One of the all-time great quotes from The Last Jedi comes when Luke - or at least an apparition of Luke - confronts Kylo Ren on Crait. "Strike me down in anger and I'l always be with you, just like your father."

This wasn't meant to be superfluous dialogue - it was an omen. The Rise of Skywalker expands upon this somewhat when Ben converses with a memory of Han Solo within the wreckage of the Second Death Star, but it's only one scene.

Even outside of this hypothetical Episode IX I've just concocted... would it not have made to keep that theme going in The Rise of Skywalker? All Luke does is appear on Ahch-To where Rey experiences his entire arc in the space of minutes, and then to scream internally as she buries his father and sister's lightsabers in a planet they all hated.

Having Luke stay with Ben as his internal conflict escalates would've really helped sell the momentum of his eventual redemption, whilst also providing a clever inversion of the typical Force Ghost dynamic audiences have grown accustomed to over the previous entries.

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Content Producer/Presenter
Content Producer/Presenter

Resident movie guy at WhatCulture who used to be Comics Editor. Thinks John Carpenter is the best. Likes Hellboy a lot. Can usually be found talking about Dad Movies on his Twitter at @EwanRuinsThings.