Frank Oz, voice of Yoda (and frequent puppeteer as well), sure sounds suspicious talking with Variety about the likelihood of the Grand Jedi Master appearing in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 8 The Last Jedi.
Variety asked the veteran puppeteer and director (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Dark Crystal with Jim Henson) whether or not Yoda will appear in The Last Jedi. Here’s how responded:
“I feel like I’m a prisoner at war here, and I can only give you my name, rank and serial number. To be true to the people who asked me, and they are kind of my family, I have to say I’ve been asked not to talk about it. I love Yoda. I would be happy to talk to you about it at the time they let me.”
That sounds like the most telling variety of denial possible, right?
But there’s one major roadblock to Yoda returning in Episode 8: he’s dead. Over 900 years old, Yoda finally faded to death in Return of the Jedi (as Jedi do), leaving behind some old rags and a distraught Luke Skywalker, who — no thanks to Yoda — only barely managed to defeat the Emperor and save the soul of his father, Darth Vader. The Last Jedi, following on the heels of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set over 30 years after Yoda’s death.
But he could return as a Force ghost: the “luminous being” part of a Jedi that, with proper training, can return after death. It’s a trick Yoda knows well, having learnt it from Qui-Gon Jinn. Plus, Yoda’s return to the realm of the living before, using the shamanic secret to party with Anakin Skywalker at the end of Return of the Jedi.
Yoda could easily return in Star Wars: The Last Jedi to advise Luke Skywalker or even commune with Rey as she follows the ways of the Force. While Oz’s statement isn’t quite proof that Yoda will return in Episode 8, it sounds likely that the wizened old puppet will be back when Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes out in theaters Dec. 15.
