The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson called the city of Canto Bight “a new environment … like dunking your head in a cool bath of water.” That sounds both refreshing and shocking, which suits what we’ve seen in these stories so far. Johnson also said that he wanted to do something that didn’t involve “grimness and dirt.” Here’s what we learned:
Corrupt Cops
First unveiled as part of the many The Last Jedi toys, the Canto Bight Police Department is detailed a bit more in the novellas. Corruption in the city spreads into the department’s ranks, in particular the sadistic Officer Brawg. Anglang Lehet, a killer for hire, notes that the CBPD are “not savages bent on breaking limbs, but agents of the orderly spending of money” — but only for the people with money to spend. They’re cruel to “street criminals” and people who show up in the wrong place at the wrong time, though. If their speeders feature enough in the film for Hasbro to make action figures out of them, then maybe Finn and Rose end up in a police chase at some point during their visit to the city. Lucasfilm describes DJ as “an enigmatic figure whose tattered, threadbare clothes and lackadaisical attitude conceal a sharp mind and expert skills.” Hacking is a kind of theft, if DJ is stealing information. So is this Benicio del Toro’s sinister character? He shows up only briefly in the story, fleeing the scene of a theft after Rhomby wisely tells him that he’s likely to be questioned.
An Escape from the News
The novella “The Ride” reveals that not all citizens of Canto Bight know or care about what’s happening in the rest of the galaxy. The city is described several times as a place where people go to get away from their problems or to transport themselves to a world of escapist luxury. The story begins as career card player Kal zones out during a conversation about the destruction of Hosnian Prime. If Finn and Rose are on the run, Canto Bight might be a good place for them to disappear. Some of the tourists will probably have heard of General Hux — and Anglang can tell that open war is coming — but certainly not all.
The Gang Lord
Canto Bight’s version of Jabba the Hutt is Big Sturg Ganna, a whale-like alien who fills the role of a mobster. I predict that Ganna might have a role closer to Jabba’s in The Phantom Menace than Jabba in Return of the Jedi — a remarkably large alien at a sporting event, just one more of the colorful creatures at Canto Bight. But in the novella, he’s an active participant in the underworld of the city, roping innocent Lexo Sooger into a conspiracy involving sabotaged space horse races and kidnapping. He also seems to be a bit of a collector of rare and grim artifacts — his private suite includes a piece of the second Death Star. Listen to the Star Wars Blaster Canon podcast: Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Soundcloud
The Countess
While all kinds of grift and grief go on beneath her feet, Countess Alissyndrex Delga Cantonica Provincion looks down on the lights of Canto Bight. In the novella “Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing,” she orchestrates a deal between herself and Big Sturg Ganna, putting her go-between Lexo in considerable danger along the way. She also has a hand in the fathier races (detailed below), another of Canto Bight’s lucrative betting opportunities.
A Changing Underworld
In the story “Rules of the Game,” Anglang notes that Canto Bight’s criminal underworld is undergoing a change. The Syndicate, an organized crime ring, was a fixture of the planet Cantonica until Canto Bight and its casinos sprang up out of the desert, bringing marks too expensive and too well-protected for the gang to handle. They were replaced by the Old City Boys, which tended to do bigger jobs than the Syndicate would tackle. Anglang uses his connections with both to get out of a tricky situation.
Fathier Races
The “space horses” more properly called fathiers recently starred in one of the promo videos for The Last Jedi. The floppy ears and mournful eyes of the fathier seen on set were quickly overshadowed by the memetic popularity of porgs, but it looks like fathiers might participate in some dramatic races in Canto Bight.
