ST Opening Scene and Crawl - Ep. VIII to be first SW sequel to pick up where the prior Ep. left off?

What do we think will be the opening scene for the next film then?

I'm going to go with a shot of the First Order invading New Republic territory, maybe a planet.

 

I'll go with the reverse. The Rebel Alliance/New Republic armies are invading an unknown planet with a large fleet, Poe is leading the fighters as usual and shouting out orders and formations. Then we go down to the ground forces and see Finn organizing the men and launching an attack. We then cut to the end of the battle and see Kylo Ren surrounded by rebel soldiers, presumably about to surrender when suddenly a figure emerges from an ancient temple in the background.

 

Sequence 1. (after inciting scroll-up) - Holonet newscast announcing Lando as the new chancellor of the wounded New Galactic Republic. We witness that Lando charm up front. Lando is a bit like FDR and his policy against letting fear hold too much sway during the Depression and WWII. But Lando is a realist and Leia's Resistance movement is their best bet against the First Order. A failed attempt to assassinate Lando played out. But its a mere distraction. As we'll likely see in...

Sequence 2. FO's massive sneak attack on the Mon Cal orbital shipyard and the planet's cities. Think of it as an aquatic Battle Of Hoth, but larger in scope / impact. Poe is now in command of a capital military starship. Finn will lead Republican troops trained for water battles. Kylo Ren's stealthy strike of terrorism leaves the Mon Cal star system in ruins. Poe uses his surviving capital starship to extract Finn and his troops. A rag-tag group of surviving NR spacecraft escape the Mon Cal star system. The NR needs help from Luke and his second generation of students more than ever...

Sequence 3. (after viewing an old holo-message from Han and Leia about Ben Solo's actions from years before) - Luke ends the recording as he senses Rey's accidental eavesdropping. He invites her into the open. Luke's sadness is really felt. But some of his old farmboy demeanor returns as he and Rey talk about her training efforts and progress. But Rey's hatred of Kylo Ren returns Luke to a state of disappointment. Luke tries to demonstrate his own control over intense anger by telling Rey how he handled the death of Rey's mother. There is a thin line between revenge and justice. Another student rushes in and informs Luke about a transmission from Leia and Lando. Leia is sending Poe and Finn to Luke. They need to rally against the FO.

Sequence 4. Kylo Ren and his fellow Knights of Ren receive orders from Snoke. Each Ren member is to follow the NR's scattering Starfleet. Snoke believes one or more of the Mon Cal survivor groups will lead the First Order to Luke's location. Kylo and his fellow Ren are feeling much dark hubris as each departs for the his or her personal hunting mission.

Sequence 5. Poe and Finn arrive at Luke's Jedi Temple and are reunited with Rey. The joyful reunion is halted when Luke informs them that he senses the Ren on the move. A risky counter move is carried out. Jedi Knights trained by Luke will take factions of Republican infantry to key spots to engage the Ren dark side cult andtheir FO allies. Shades of the Clone Wars here...Jedi Knights leading troops...minus the Order 66 betrayal (or so the protagonists think). Luke takes Rey and Finn with him. They board Poe's ship. Luke plans to draw Snoke and / or Kylo out by being loud and proud in the Force. The stakes have never been higher.

Well what do YOU think readers? Think this reads rather likely? Please comment!

 

It's a little early, but I'll take a guess. Although I will probably be wrong.

(Three years after Episode VII.)

Scroll fade out: The camera will pan down to show a group of normal First Order Star Destroyers amassed next to a new and much larger First Order Destroyer; a Super Star Destroyer, in orbit over Moriband. Scene cut to control bridge of Super Star Destroyer, where General Hux is preparing for Kylo Ren's arrival from Moriband below. Scene cut to an old Sith Temple on Moriband, where Snoke is formally informing Kylo Ren that he has finished his training. Scene swipe to Luke's Island Planet. Seeing more of the Island, it is revealed that the first Jedi Temple is indeed located on this island. Luke is finishing Rey's Jedi training there.

 

I'm going to say no, if for no other reason than that it'd render the opening crawl redundant. I'm going to say that although the angle on Luke is possibly from the film, Rey's outstretched hand isn't. I think it'll be the shortest time in between episodes though

 

I reckon flashbacks or maybe a prologue (perhaps even before the crawl?) that comes directly after TFA ending but then the rest of the movie is set some time later when Rey has trained, Finn has recovered and the First Order has regrouped and Kylo had another few months of staring at Vader's helmet.

Actually that's a thought... Were Kylo's scenes talking to Vader's helmet on his star destroyer or on starkiller base? If the latter and it got destroyed with the planet then what will he talk to now?

maybe he has other parts of the suit at different locations? Maybe we'll see him talking to a melted one of these?

 

I would actually love to see the movie start with Luke accepting the lightsaber from Rey, and then have them starting to talk. It would be important enough to be shown. And yeah, I agree about the opening crawl; it can talk about other things that have been going on during Rey's trip to find Luke. On the other hand, Chewbacca was with her on that trip, and now his return (at least as being played by Peter Mayhew goes) is up in the air.

 

Yup... frozen for about three months, so that enough other items for the opening crawl can occur in the meantime.

 

That scene in the production preview between Rey and Luke could be to throw us off.

 

Yes, yes it will be

 

I thought that was simply footage from TFA. (The Luke/Rey exchange).

 

I'm going to just put this out there....We don't know how long it took Rey to get to this unmarked planet. Did it take hours? Days? Months? Years? That is the real question.

 

The opening crawl of Episode VIII will be a Previously On Star Wars clip montage.

 

Was the scene at the end of TFA in sunlight like this scene was? I don't recall it being so.

 

Hmm, true. I think it was cloudier, more overcast.

Edit:
Then again...

Clouds can be blown out of the way of the sun, too.

 

Hoping that after one or two scenes, they'll jump forward a couple of months.

 

You may be joking but I could see it more or less turning out that way. They'll remind us that both Resistance and the First Order have been dealt major losses and the two sides are on now on an even playing field which makes the stakes all the more higher because whoever wins the next big victory will have the upper hand. Meanwhile Rey has located Luke, possibly the Resistance's best chance at holding off the First Order. And then boom! The crawl ends and the camera moves from outer space down to the planet that Luke and Rey are on.

 

Usually, there would be a focal point to get us down to the planet surface from the space setting where we sit while the opening crawl goes by. This focal point is usually a ship. So I almost wonder if that ship in question could be a First Order ship that has successfully figured out where the Millennium Falcon went, or a probe droid. The touching moment between Luke and Rey would probably need to be over pretty quickly if hiding became necessary.

 

I won't be surprised to see an opening crawl detailing what took place BEFORE Rey actually met Luke to hand over that Lightsaber (some form of plot twist at the start of Episode 8)... Because it somehow took Rey, Chewie, and R2-D2 months to reach that isolated planet, since the Hyperdrive in yours truly has malfunctioned, rendering super-fast travel useless!