'Star Wars: Episode 8' spoilers: Maz Kanata took Luke's lightsaber from Kylo Ren?

The upcoming "Star Wars: Episode 8" is expected to explain how Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) came in possession of the blue lightsaber that was once used by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). According to the latest theories about this lightsaber, Maz may have stolen — or otherwise taken — the lightsaber from the villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) who, at the time, somehow owned the powerful weapon.

This theory also indicates that Maz will play a significant role in the upcoming "Star Wars" film and that the story of how she retrieved the lightsaber — "a long story for another time," she said in "Episode 7" — will be a part of her arc in "Episode 8."

As fans recall, Luke lost the blue lightsaber — and his hand — in his fight with Darth Vader on Bespin. In "Episode 7," Rey (Daisy Ridley) came upon the lightsaber, which had been calling to her and was locked inside a treasure chest in the basement of Maz's castle on Takodana. Rey later used the weapon in her fight against Kylo Ren, who recognized the lightsaber and claimed that it was his.

Movie Pilot says that Kylo said this because the lightsaber was actually his at some point and that he acquired it from a prosperous man somewhere in the vast "Star Wars" galaxy. The lightsaber may have passed from person to person after Luke lost it, until it finally ended up in the hands of Kylo, his nephew and former student. Maz may have retrieved the lightsaber during a battle between the Knights of Ren and a mysterious group called the "Seven."

Because Kylo may have bought the lightsaber from a trader, it may have rightfully been his. This is why during the villain's lightsaber fight with Finn (John Boyega), he angrily told the latter, "That lightsaber... it belongs to me."

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy spoke about the future of the "Star Wars" film franchise and revealed that "Star Wars: Episode 9" could be the final "Episodes" film.

"That's a conversation going on right now," she said. "I have to honestly tell you, could we [do nothing but standalones]? Sure. But I don't know. We are looking at all of that," she added.

"Star Wars: Episode 8" hits theaters Dec. 15, 2017.