Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi is one of the most polarizing blockbusters ever made. While some fans were unhappy with the movie’s treatment of Luke Skywalker and its disregard for some of the setups in The Force Awakens, it’s undeniable that — for better or worse — Johnson managed to put his own personal artistic stamp on the movie, which is rare in big-budget studio filmmaking.
In the second chapter of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Johnson introduced a handful of new characters to a galaxy far, far away. From Rose Tico to “Broom Boy,” Johnson is responsible for some of the sequel trilogy’s most beloved new additions to the ensemble.
DJ
Technically, Benicio del Toro’s character doesn’t have a name in The Last Jedi, but he’s called DJ on all the promotional materials in reference to his “Don’t Join” mantra. DJ is the hacker whom Finn and Rose meet on Canto Bight in the hopes of getting him to help the Resistance. The character is pretty one-note, as he speaks in soundbites about how there is no such thing as good and bad.
He talks so much about not taking sides, overtly telegraphing that he’s going to betray Finn and Rose as soon as he’s offered a bigger paycheck. Then, for some reason, Finn and Rose are surprised when he sells them out to the First Order. There’s an artificial air of mystery around the DJ character, but his arc is too predictable for that mysteriousness to land.
Supreme Leader Snoke (In Person)
Supreme Leader Snoke was introduced as the de facto leader of the First Order in The Force Awakens, but he only ever appeared to Kylo Ren and General Hux as a hologram. The character didn’t appear in the flesh until Johnson introduced him in The Last Jedi. Snoke’s hologram towered over Kylo and Hux at 30 feet tall in The Force Awakens, but in The Last Jedi, he turned out to only be a couple of feet taller than the average human.
Once again, Snoke spends the whole movie sitting on a throne. He shows off his Force powers this time around, but he continues to be a shallow imitation of Emperor Palpatine. According to Game Rant, Johnson has since admitted he found the character of Snoke “fundamentally uninteresting.” His sudden bisection was a subversive twist, but it didn’t make the character himself any more compelling.
Paige Tico
Resistance gunner Paige Tico only appears in the opening set piece of The Last Jedi, but she joins the canon of noble Star Wars heroes within just a couple of minutes. When Poe Dameron launches an unauthorized attack on a First Order dreadnaught, Paige is responsible for dropping the bombs. There’s a problem with the mechanism, so she has to go in and do it manually, like Major Kong in Dr. Strangelove.
This ultimate sacrifice makes Paige a memorable character even though she’s introduced and killed off in the same scene. Paige’s death and the grief surrounding it become a huge part of her sister Rose’s arc through the rest of the movie.
Broom Boy
Much like The Empire Strikes Back, The Last Jedi has a downer ending with Luke Skywalker’s death, the First Order emerging stronger than ever, and the Resistance retreating weaker than ever. And much like Empire, it still ends on a traditionally hopeful note. On Canto Bight, one of the enslaved kids from earlier in the movie is seen playing with a Luke Skywalker doll and spreading stories of his heroism. This boy then uses the Force to pick up his broom and stares wondrously at the stars.
This kid, dubbed “Broom Boy,” was teased as the first of a new generation of Jedi, possibly to be trained by Rey. Despite the fact that The Rise of Skywalker completely ignored the ending of The Last Jedi and Broom Boy never returned, the image of a young enslaved boy being inspired by Luke Skywalker and looking up at the stars is one of the defining shots of the Star Wars saga.
Vice Admiral Holdo
While General Leia led the Resistance in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi introduced a different leader: Vice Admiral Holdo, played by Laura Dern. Holdo is notable for “the Holdo maneuver,” which she achieved by ramping up a Resistance ship to lightspeed and smashing through the First Order’s advancing fleet. Whether it’s canonical or not, it’s a mind-blowing moment and a touching sacrifice.
There are a couple of plot holes in Holdo’s arc — primarily, she could’ve just told the Resistance about her plan instead of leading them to believe they were going to die — but Dern’s typically fierce performance patches over those concerns.
Rose Tico
Of all the new characters introduced in The Last Jedi, the one who best embodies the spirit of Star Wars is Rose Tico. Despite mourning the honorable death of her sister, Rose remains infectiously optimistic about the Resistance’s chances in its increasingly futile war against the First Order. Her passion for the Resistance’s cause eventually convinces Finn to get onboard. Kelly Marie Tran brought plenty of likability to the role and shared fantastic chemistry with John Boyega.
Rose is characterized as a sort of everywoman. Whereas Rey and Finn are both Force-sensitive and Poe is an exceptional pilot, Rose is just a technician. Star Wars stories usually focus on the Jedi and royalty at the top of the chain, but The Last Jedi sheds a light on the little people who make their triumphs possible.
