Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 10 Moments Everyone Misunderstands

3. The Very Late Luke Reveal Was The Right Choice

#WheresLuke?

Luke Skywalker was missing from almost all of the promotional material heading into The Force Awakens, save for the shot of his hand on Artoo, leading to an outcry over the fact that he was being kept back for the movie, despite having second-billing on the poster. And then, when the film was finally released, Luke was only in the very last scene, and didn't have a single line of dialogue.

Whether it was before the film or after it, those complaints and questions completely missed the entire point. The search for Luke, whether through his lightsaber or a map or whatever, is what drives this film forward. His absence, meanwhile, is completely necessary for the new characters to take centre stage and really evolve, evidenced by the fact that Luke appeared heavily in Michael Arndt's original script, but had to be cut down when he took over the film (Mark Hamill himself has spoken about how he thought Luke should've returned earlier).

It also fits with the character, based on what we know of Kylo Ren killing the other Jedi he was training, that he'd exile himself (in particular if he's also feeling guilt over fathering a child as well), while it serves to build more of a mystery that they can explore in the future films, and certainly makes his presence in The Last Jedi even more intriguing. In short, Luke Skywalker was in The Force Awakens for about a minute, and that was not only a very deliberate move, but also the right one.