Is Benicio Del Toro Related with Star Wars 8?

After the immensely successful 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (2015) and 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' (2016), the franchise is set to continue the run with its newest installment, 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi', which is set to have its theatrical release in December 2017. We know precious little about the movie, except that it is to be written and directed by Rian Johnson ('Looper') and it will star Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro as one of the lead characters. All of the surviving original cast members are also expected to return.

Rian Johnson has said that the film took inspiration from 'Twelve O'Clock High' (1949), 'Letter Never Sent' (1960), 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' (1957) and 'Three Outlaw Samurai' (1964)

Benicio Del Toro has always been noticeably reticent about his upcoming releases and it's no different this time as he divulged next to nothing about his character, other than stating that his character is 'like a villain'. His relation to Star Wars 8 has been in the news since even before the release of the previous episode and till now, his character has been shrouded in a layer of mystery.

However, internet speculation primarily from popular youtube uploader Mike Zero suggests that Benicio Del Toro's character is an intimidating, dangerous one but he is not a villain, at least in the traditional sense. According to Mike, Del Toro was listed to play Vacuum Fett on wikiwand.com. However later his role was changed to TBA. This bit of information instigated the rumor that Del Toro could possibly be playing the son of iconic villain Boba Fett from Episode 5 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'.

Benicio Del Toro was previously cast as Darth Maul, the primary antagonist of 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace' (1999), but dropped out after George Lucas removed most of Maul's lines from the script

Fans of the genre would remember Boba Fett as a bounty hunter with such a fearsome reputation, that Darth Vader himself asked him to back down. Fett was one of the most high-profile villains from the original Star Wars Trilogy who didn't have any role in the recent Star Wars Episode 7. So his son would be a welcome and fitting addition to Episode 8.

The only other information revealed about his character comes from the ordinarily reliable fan-site Making Star Wars which described Del Toro's character as a 'man in black', because he always dresses in black and because of the insidious nature of his character. Benicio Del Toro is renowned for playing morally ambiguous characters and this might be another role in a career replete with similar performances.

Rian Johnson revealed backstage photo on his Instagram account

The 'man in black' has been compared to Landro Calrissian from Episode 5 and Episode 6, an untrustworthy character of dubious intentions who seemed to be on the side of the heroes initially, only to later stab them in the back and then again, finally siding with the heroes in the end. Benicio Del Toro's filmography is full of such complex characters who place personal gain over everything else, pledging allegiance to whichever side would be most profitable to him.

There's also talk of Del Toro being the proprietor of an inter-galactic space casino, which if true would be consistent with Del Toro's choice of roles and would also be extremely entertaining to watch. Recent speculation also suggests that Del Toro might be playing a more mature Ezra Bridger, a rebel fighter from the planet of Lothal who is the current protagonist of the animated series: 'Star Wars Rebels'.

Regardless of the role, he is cast in, the inclusion of a star of Benicio Del Toro's caliber could work wonders for the already incredibly successful franchise. We'll just have to wait and see what writer-director Rian Johnson and Lucasfilms have up their sleeves.