WARNING: SPOILERS AND SPECULATIONS
Lucasfilm debuted the first trailer for Episode IX, titled The Rise of Skywalker, which is expected to be the last in the Star Wars trilogy as Lucasfilm has announced their plan to slow releases within the franchise.
At the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago April 11-15, director J.J. Abrams revealed the movie won’t take place immediately after the events of The Last Jedi.
The trailer begins in tranquility as Rey stands alone on a desert planet, but quickly escalates when she draws her lightsaber and hurls over an incoming starfighter.
It is speculated that Kylo Ren may be the pilot of the starfighter attacking Rey, due to a close up of the pilot’s iconic black gloves hinting at a reveal and the similarity to the starfighter body style.
The theater features the voiceover of Luke Skywalker throughout the trailer, who died in 2017’s The Last Jedi.
This isn’t the first time Star Wars has used deceased characters as ghosts. In The Last Jedi, Yoda appeared as a force ghost in front of Skywalker.
The trailer ends with the voice of Skywalker’s ghost saying, “No one’s ever really gone,” followed by the iconic laugh of Emperor Palpatine, who died aboard the Death Star in Return of the Jedi which released in 1983.
A few major predictions have already been made by fanatics, with some proposing that Rey’s parentage will be re-written to appease fans that were disappointed with the The Last Jedi.
Some speculate Emperor Palpatine never died with the Death Star because his body was never shown, while others are speculating that he will appear as an evil force ghost, in the same fashion as Skywalker and Yoda.
Although the trailer leaves fans with more questions than answers, we can only hope future trailers will ease the suspense before the release.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will hit theaters December 20, 2019.
Photo Credit/ Lucasfilm
