Cool Hand Luke: 'The Last Jedi' Contains A Big 'Return Of The Jedi' Easter Egg

Cue heavy breathing from behind a respirator because the galaxy far, far away just got a little closer. With only a few months until Rian Johnson brings us Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the latest trailer for the sci-fi spectacle went and broke the internet. With the brooding cloud from the dark side of the Force looming over us, the latest footage had us questioning who is good and who is bad in #TheLastJedi.

As we light up our lightsabers once more, there is plenty to paw over in the trailer: Kylo Ren is sporting his rad new scars, the late Carrie Fisher is back for her final role as Leia Organa, and we get an adorable look at porgs — whatever the hell they are. However, hidden among the sabers and Stormtroopers, did you spot Johnson's homage to #StarWars gone by?

Lend A Hand

We have already heard that theory that The Last Jedi poster is arranged to remind us of that big bad Darth Vader, but the trailer apparently harks back to 1983's Return of the Jedi with a neat little Easter Egg.

At the 00:35 mark, we see the story pick up from the cliffhanger ending of The Force Awakens, and #MarkHamill's Luke Skywalker takes his lightsaber back off #DaisyRidley's Rey. Sporting that cool cybernetic hand, Luke has been parted from his signature weapon since Vader lopped off his hand in The Empire Strikes Back. However, Luke's helping "hand" refers that infamous scene in Return of the Jedi on Jabba's sail barge. While Boba Fett went for a dip in the Great Pit of Carkoon, Luke and his comrades had a daring escape from the deserts of Tattooine.

If you remember, when helping save Han and Leia on Jabba's barge, Luke's robo-hand took a battering from a blaster. I don't know what he has been doing for all those years on that rocky outcrop of Ach-To, but by the looks of The Last Jedi, he still hasn't got round to fixing it. While first ashamed of his damaged hand and hiding it under a glove for Return of the Jedi, Luke now seems to be embracing his electrical enhancement — scars and all. However, by not repairing himself, does the hand also point to Luke's new hermit-like existence, and has he really let himself go?

Since evading the First Order some time after the events of Return, Luke was discovered by Rey in the very last moments of The Force Awakens. So, when The Last Jedi hits cinemas, it will have been some 34 years since he uttered a word. Luckily, Luke will finally get to speak again on December 15, so let's hope he can put his Teminator-esque hand to good use and Force-choke some of the bad guys in Episode VIII.