ST Lupita Nyong'o (Maz Kanata) in Episode IX

Maz is a fighter and she understands this fight more than most. I would be surprised if she isn't given a quite substantial role (more than TLJ for sure) in ep 9 as she could be key in getting the Rebels back in the game in terms of ships and allies.

 

Well hopefully this "union dispute" that had her tied up in TLJ ends with her in charge of the union and a large fleet of pirates/smugglers to come help the new rebels.

 

Maz coming back makes me think my theory that she’ll be killed by Kylo could be true.

Maybe she helps hook the resistance up and Kylo discovers this and takes her out?

 

I could see Maz in a couple scenes. One early with Rey where they discuss the Force (and perhaps Luke's spirit appears to them both), and maybe JJ re-uses/re-works the cut scene from TFA of Maz giving Luke's lightsaber to Leia in IX somehow. Maybe she has repaired it after it was broken...Rey could be using a new one she made herself, but Maz repairs Luke's lightsaber and gives it to Leia. No one deserves to have the saber more than Leia--and also tells her (i.e. US!) how she got it in the first place

And what does Rey need it for when she has her own? That would be really sweet. And fitting as one of Leia's final scenes.

 

We find out that she's Supreme Lord Darth Ruler Dr. Professor Plaguies II Jr. the Lesser.

 

It would be funny if Maz just turns out to be some hustler who won came upon Luke's lightsaber through hustling.

 

My guess is that Maz has secretly been working for the Resistance since TFA. She says it herself "We must face them. Fight them. All of us." The underworld rises up with Maz leading the charge against the First Order.

 

Maz leading a ragtag group of misfits would not be surprising.

 

Then Chris Pratt must surely be the next casting announcement for Episode 9.

 

I think Lando had something to do with how Maz ended up with Luke's saber, but we'll see.

 

Maybe but how much does the journey of Luke's lightsaber need to be explained on screen? I know an early draft did in fact focus on said journey but then they scrapped it, (possibly because they thought it was a story that could be told in a comic or novel?)

All that said when I've speculated about the role Lando and Maz would play in Ep. IX I've more or less ended up with the same answer, that both characters will use their connections to the underground to hook the Resistance up with troops and/or supplies. The more I think about it however the more that seems redundant. Do they really need two separate characters to fill the same role in the story? Why bring Billie Dee Williams back just for him to say, "I, like Maz, can also supply guns, ships, and troops"?

So I guess I'm saying maybe Lando and Maz will be there to explain the journey of Luke's lightsaber but they'll also be there to serve some other function.

Here's the other thing about Maz, she's kinda sorta the Yoda character, i.e. the old wise character with a connection to the Force whose there to give advice to Rey. Why do we need that type of character in Ep. IX when we'll have Ghost Luke to fulfill that role?

So to recap Maz's defining traits are, 1) Resistance friendly character who has a hookup to the underworld, and 2) Force character who gives advice to other Force character. With Lando and Luke filling those duties respectively I'm thinking Maz doesn't need to stick around for long. They'll kill her off.

 

It would be really bizarre if there isn't any scene with Maz and Rey. Maz is like the first who shuffled Rey along this journey.

 

I could see Rey having a scene with Maz. Perhaps on some level it would mirror Luke's talk with Yoda and Obi-Wan in ROTJ? Maybe Ghost Luke appears to Rey, gives Rey some info and disappears and then she follows up with Maz? Seems like something that could happen.

The first time Maz gave Rey advice she was just beginning her journey. It could be cool to see these two characters reconnect now that Rey is knee deep in the Force now. And then later down the road Kylo offs Maz.

 

I think Maz will be rallying ground forces for the Resistance and providing weapons, while Lando provides the ships and, accordingly, commands them in the final battle against the First Order. While we're on the subject, I believe Leia will be coordinating the final battle from inside wherever the new Resistance headquarters is. Poe, Finn, Rose and Chewie will be involved, Luke will appear to Rey a couple of times to offer advice/do what he can, and Rey will go kick Kylo's butt.

 

Maz will get just one line. Rey will be talking to FG Luke, and suddenly a FG Maz appears beside him:
Rey: "Maz... you're a ghost, too?"
Maz: "Killed in a union dispute.. yes."
Then she vanishes.

 

no Luke always appears with FG Maz on one side and FG Yoda on the other, and the trio constantly move as one, and speak in ethereal codes that Rey doesn't understand. And when she asks them to be less cryptic, they become more cryptic.

 

I'm actually seriously entertaining the thought that the story of the journey of Luke's lightsaber from TESB to TFA would make a really good comic one-shot.

 

Is Lupita in this?

More than likely a quick cameo?

No rumors from MSW or any leaks whatsoever?

 

yes she is.
Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-ix-cast-announced

maybe with the Resistance being barely anything left, she and other pirates join them. Her role is likely small.

 

There were rumors that she received the LS from Lando.

 

Rey: How did you get Luke's lightsaber?
Maz: That's a story for another time.
*A year later...*
Rey: So Maz...how did you get Luke's lightsaber.
Maz: Oh Lando gave it to me.

 

It was on reddit. Lando found it when he went back to Bespin. No idea if true but sounds feasible and simple.

 

Maz is still a blank canvas. they can do wonders with her. I hope she has a rich showing in tros

 

Not a blank canvas the canon has kinda set her up to be like Gold D Roger from One Piece . Also she has Ties to Force Cthulhu (Typhojem , The Left Handed God )

 

Where's Maz? What's her role? I think we have seen either promotional images, leaked images, lego figures or least rumors of all the other characters except for her. I don't recall hearing any reliable rumors regarding Maz in TROS.