Luke's Entrance

Well he hasn't lost his aim.

 

As one of the many parallels with the OT, Luke will be living as a hermit in exile, just like Obi-Wan and Yoda.
It makes the most sense too because the First Order want to destroy the last Jedi, but they cannot find him.
I believe they DO find him, at the end of the movie.
Just like the First Order somehow intercept the communication between Leia and Tekka and then later track them to Takodana, they will track Rey to Luke's location.
Knights of Ren will arrive and there will be a showdown finale.
From a narrative point of view, this showdown will connect to whatever happened during the flashback.
For the audience it will also be the moment where everyone goes bananas. This will be the ending that puts a huge smile on everybody's faces, one that is needed after the sad death of Han Solo.
You don't need stunt doubles for a simple "hi baby girl" dialogue ending.

 

Luke will appear after Rey and Finn get there asses handed to them by kylo ren.

 

Pretty sure that's edited to give false impression; stormtrooper likely getting hit by X-wing fire, not Han's blaster.

Who said that Hamill had a stunt double on TFA?

 

Chloe Bruce is Daisy Ridley's stunt double. Chloe Bruce and Rhye Copeman were on Skellig Michael. Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley were on Skellig Michael.
It's a logical assumption that Rhye Copeman is Mark Hamill's stunt double.

 

Great shot Poe that was one in a million.

 

The more I read about Luke in self imposed exile, the more I hate it.

 

That was early concepts I think

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 1, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 1, 2015 ---

I think he is only gone for around 10 years or so.

 

I think Luke will appear(in the present-TFA tense) in a "all is lost" scene where Finn-Rey-Han may be facing peril.
The long time fans will go nuts!
He'll fight off the KoR & Kylo or deal with Snoke.
The one promo says; "Hope is not lost today, hope is found.". This seems to reference Luke Skywalker.
Luke coming back to deal with The First Order & Snoke(cough Darth Plaguis cough)... Could frame EP 8.

The Resistance victory of the Star Killer base will give a + ending but Luke(with force ghost Yoda ) will show the real battle-struggle is pending.

 

I think your "legit leak" person is right. Luke is going to save Poe from the desert just like ObiWan saved Luke. We know virtually nothing about Poe's time on Jakku after he crash lands with Finn until he shows up at Takodana. I think that part of the movie has been kept very secret for a reason, just like the ending.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 1, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 1, 2015 ---

The other heroes might not be able to find him- but I think he most certainly finds them, and just when they need him, too.

I guess he's punishing himself for something, but he'd never leave his friends and family in peril. Including Rey. Unless, of course, he IS the peril, which might be true if Kylo is hunting him. Still, I think he'd try to help the Resistance at every opportunity, but do it from the shadows.

 

I believe the first time Luke will appear in the movie, It'll be as a hologram. I can picture very well the scene with Finn and Rey on the Millenium Falcon where Han says : It's True. All Of It. That would be a nice segway to introduce Luke into the picture by having Han showing the new characters the last message/recording he received from Luke (something that will most likely connect with the plot of the movie) and give some motivation for Finn and Rey to start looking for him.

If I had to guess a reason why Luke would go into exile, I'd say it's because he's looking for answers regarding his own heritage. He wants to learn about Anakin's father and he's searching every corner of the universe for answers (which could possibly tie in the whole Snoke is Plagueis theory).

 

What a shame that Plagueis didn't keep a diary.... would have been great to see Luke's jaw drop in shock.

 

That is a little optimistic, I feel.

I put it at 99% that Luke's exile is related to a major tragedy. The scene with Luke and R2 is almost surely in a flashback, and this scene looks quite like a funeral to me.

 

I think that we as an audience WILL see Luke but the heroes won't for the most part .

 

Yep, that's exactly what I think. Small, but very important glimpses of him.

 

I wonder just how much backstory will be given to what the heck Luke has been doing

 

In this movie? Probably none. He's only showing up for the ending, which I don't think will have much dialogue for him to explain what he's been up to.

 

Do you guys think Mark Hamill would lose all that weight and prep his body just to be in the movie for 5 minutes, let alone agree to it? I think we will see more than a cameo, I believe JJ knows how much people love Luke Skywalker and the hype around seeing the big 3 together again. That is why I believe they are hiding him so when you see him on the big screen it's an "OMG" moment with intense nostalgia and feelings that could only come about by seeing him on the big screen and having that mystery factor by not being in any promo material.

 

I doubt it, if they had a shot of the OT trio together, they'd push it in the ads as hard as they do the Avengers Assembled shots. Really, the only reason to not even show a tiny glimpse of Luke is because there's just so little to show that they can't not save it for the movie. As for why he trained/lost weight, this is a trilogy after all and it's much healthier for a person to lose weight gradually and keep it off for later films than it is to yo-yo back and forth.