Friday at the Star Wars Celebration convention in Chicago, the first official trailer for “Star Wars IX” was screened and subsequently released on YouTube. Being a teaser trailer lasting a little over two minutes, not much of the film was shown. However, many important elements about the upcoming space opera were revealed, including the title, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
The trailer was shown during a panel hosted by late-night host and gigantic Star Wars fan Stephen Colbert alongside the film’s director, J.J. Abrams, and Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, according to an article by CBS. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” will serve as both the sequel to 2017’s “The Last Jedi” and the final film in the Sequel Trilogy which started with the release of “The Force Awakens” in 2015.
“The Rise of Skywalker” also concludes the Skywalker Saga which began with the Original Trilogy, released from 1977 to 1983 and was continued with the Prequel Trilogy, released from 1999 to 2005, according to ScreenRant.
Opening the trailer is Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, who is standing on a desert planet holding the lightsaber of Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill, whose voice can be heard in the background.
An enemy spaceship comes charging toward Rey who flips over it. What follows are multiple clips displaying the colorful cast of characters from both the Original Trilogy and new characters from both “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi.”
Among the returning cast is Billy Dee Williams, playing the charismatic smuggler Lando Calrissian. While Williams has reprised his role from “The Empire Strikes Back” in multiple animated projects including “Star Wars: Rebels,” he hasn’t played Lando in a live-action film since 1983’s “Return of The Jedi.”
Lando has since been portrayed by Donald Glover in 2018’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story” but it will be refreshing to see Williams back in the captain’s chair of the Millenium Falcon.
The biggest shock of the trailer was at the end where the screen cut to black and a familiar cackle terrified the ears of viewers. The laugh of Emperor Palpatine, played by Ian McDiarmid, who turned Darth Vader to the Dark Side of the Force.
At the Star Wars Celebration panel, McDiarmid came onto the stage and officially confirmed he will reprise his role in “The Rise of Skywalker.” While Palpatine was, apparently, killed by Vader in “Return of the Jedi,” there have been multiple storylines in the now defunct extended universe of comics and books where Emperor Palpatine has returned.
A tear-jerking moment showed Leia Organa, played by the late Carrie Fisher, hugging Rey,confirming Leia will play a role in “The Rise of Skywalker.” Despite passing away in 2016, two years before principle photography started for “The Rise of Skywalker,” Fisher will play a significant role thanks to “a lot of minutes of footage. I don’t mean just outtakes,” according to Fisher’s brother, Todd Fisher, in an interview with ABC.
“This is unused, new content that could be woven into the storyline,” he said. “That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be. Like it was shot yesterday.” Not only will it be great to see Leia, along with the rest of the cast, one last time but it will also give fans some closure following the untimely death of the actress at 60-years-old.
While several films, including “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and the upcoming trilogy by “The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson, are expanding the universe created by George Lucas, the original saga started in 1977 is coming to an end. However, “The Rise of Skywalker” looks promising delivering the epic visuals, characters and action the franchise is known for.
