All The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Trailer Details You Might Have Missed
Disney released the long-awaited first trailer for the last film in the main Star Wars saga we've known for more than four decades. The film is called Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—a title that has sent fans of the beloved sci-fi saga into a frenzy.
For a franchise that is known for being extremely secretive and restrictive with every tiny little detail, the new teaser trailer actually is full of some very surprising–and revealing–glimpses of the new film.
Unlike Disney's marketing campaign for their similarly massive tentpole feature, Avengers: Endgame, it seems like Lucasfilm and the House of Mouse is okay with showing off some spoilery glimpses of Star Wars IX. We've got Lando Calrissian confirmed to be coming back, the return of the (crash-landed) Death Star, and even, if you can believe it, the confirmation of a long-standing fan theory: the resurrection of Emperor Palpatine. Here's all the details you might have missed.
8| A Third Desert Planet
Star Wars has been home to some pretty iconic planets over the years, central among them being Tatooine. Later, when Kathleen Kennedy resurrected the franchise with The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams incorporated a second desert planet, which was called Jakku. The home of our new Jedi hero, Rey, Jakku became a significant location for the new trilogy, with much of the action from the film's first act taking place there. It's even where we found the dusty, old Millennium Falcon. Now, there seems to be a new sandy planet in the mix. Could Rey have returned to Jakku? That might make sense for the closure of her story, but something about the scene from this trailer doesn't seem to scream Jakku, or even Tatooine, for that matter. What is this strange new mountainous location, and why have we found our main protagonist here, all alone?
7. Yoda and Luke To Return Again?
While Rey catches her breath in the desert, we can hear Mark Hamill's recognizable voice say, "We've passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now." What's interesting here is that Luke is using the word "we." As far as we've seen in the movies so far, Rey has only been taught by Luke Skywalker. But with this narration, the teaser seems to be implying that Rey has been taught by more than one Jedi. "Thousands," as Luke says. While it's obvious that she's not going to be taught by a legion of Jedi Masters, this voice over narration may confirm the long-standing rumors that Yoda will be returning for this film. Obi-Wan was said to have been trained by the Force Ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn while he was isolated for many years on Tatooine protecting the young Luke Skywalker. And we've seen many Force Ghosts in the series before–is it safe to say that we may see some Jedi of old making a return in translucent form in The Rise of Skywalker?
6| Kylo Ren's Cowardly Mode of Battle
Why the heck is Kylo Ren, leader of the First Order, heir apparent to the throne of the Sith, fighting on land in a starship? This scene in the teaser depicts Adam Driver's moody character charging full speed at Daisy Ridley's Rey from the comfort of his cool, black space cruiser, his trusty lightsaber nowhere in sight. It doesn't seem completely out of character for Ren to being unconventional in his tactics, but is there a reason why Ben Solo might be avoiding a hand-to-hand bout of combat with the young Jedi master? After he was defeated by her when she was barely a Padawan in The Force Awakens, it could make sense that he'd not want to lightsaber duel with her again. Is Kylo Ren scared of Rey?
5| Yet Another New Planet
We're getting some serious Aladdin vibes from this planet. Looking like a gigantic treasure-filled cave of Agrabah, it's not completely clear what part of the galaxy we've ended up on here. As what resembles an A-Wing skirts past the screen and into this brightly-lit kingdom, one has to wonder if The Rise of Skywalker is going to raise a middle finger to the haters and include some sort of casino planet homage to the Last Jedi. Looking closely, we can see a ton of lights, tall buildings, and structures that even resemble castles, which could mean the Resistance gang is sneaking into a place of wealth, yet again.
4| New Resistance Fighters
In the old trilogy, like the Empire and their Stormtroopers, the Rebellion always had soldiers of their own. While The Resistance has got a lot of pilots, and heroic troops leading the charge against The First Order, there isn't really an iconic uniform for the good guys in these new Star Wars films. In this tree-covered, reddish scene from the trailer, we can see Adam Driver's character and his Resistance Stormtroopers cutting through some uniformed folks in what looks like a forest of some sort. Are these natives to a new planet we haven't seen yet? Or could they be the new uniforms for the soldiers of The Resistance? Either way, we've definitely never seen these guys before–and they're clearly not friends with The First Order.
3| The Technician Working On Kylo Ren's Old Helmet
Ben Solo has had a love/hate relationship with his helmet. He's used it to instill fear in his enemies, but he's also been ridiculed for wearing it. The Last Jedi saw Ren destroy his Darth Vader-inspired facemask, but this time it looks like he's getting it repaired. While it's clear that Ren will be donning the mask yet again, it's a little surprising that it seems he's not putting the pieces back together himself—unless he's become a werewolf, that is. Looking closely at the image from the trailer, you can clearly make out that the technician soldering this helmet back together has black hands that are covered in hair. Who is our furry new friend?
2| The Return of the Rebellion Pendant from A New Hope
Carrie Fisher, tragically, has passed. But as Abrams confirmed in the panel at the recent Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, The Rise of Skywalker will provide a send off for the iconic character of Princess Leia. In this tender string of shots in the Episode IX trailer, we see Rey and Leia embracing, and someone holding a golden pendant that's got some big Rebellion vibes in its inscription.
Looking closely, we can see that this is almost certainly the same medal that was granted to Luke Skywalker and Han Solo at the end of A New Hope. Chewbacca was infamously not awarded a pendant for his heroism–will he finally be getting his god damn medal like he deserves?
1| The Death Star Awakens
They said he wouldn't do it. They said JJ Abrams would resist the urge to leap for some old gigantic mega weapon like he did in The Force Awakens and give us something brand new for once. They were wrong. It looks like the gang has found the iconic Death Star–or at least what remains of it–crashed in some ocean off the coast of a planet we've likely never seen before. It looks completely decimated. But the laughter that we here right after it confirms that not everything on that Moon-sized Starship is dead. The Emperor is back, and so are his old digs. Could Rey and company be venturing back to the Death Star to defeat the undead Force Ghost of the Ol' Emperor? It seems safe to say that, if they're looking for the location of a heavy source of evil that's resonating from somewhere in the galaxy, the burial place of Emperor Palpatine–aka Darth Sidious–aka the most evil creature in the history of the Galaxy–would be a good place to start.
This story originally appeared on Esquire.com.
* Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.
