Ragesh Dipu
The long-awaited teaser trailer of ‘Star Wars: Episode IX,’ titled ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ has finally surfaced online. The teaser was unveiled during an ‘Episode IX’ panel at the Star Wars Celebration event in Chicago by director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. ‘Star Wars’ cast including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, and Naomi Ackie were also present at the event.
The teaser opens up with Daisy Ridley’s Rey, the main character of the new trilogy, panting with a vast desert looming over her. Interestingly, ‘The Force Awakens’ trailer with Finn opened in a similar shot four years ago. ‘We’ve passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight,’ says Mark Hamill’s Force Ghost from somewhere in the desert. Rey weilds a lightsaber while getting ready to charge. Yes, the same lightsaber that Rey inherited from Luke! Then the trailer cuts to Kylo Ren fighting his way through a dense forest. Lando and Chewbacca are seen piloting the Millennium Falcon. Finn, Poe and C3PO are flying above the desert. Then, we see the surprise shot of Carrie Fisher, in which she holds a Medal of Bravery awarded to Luke and Han Solo in ‘Star Wars: A New Hope.’
Though the teaser is cryptic, it gives a few clues and introduces Daisy Ridley’s Rey in an aggressive combat mode. The most exciting moment of the teaser comes when the gambler, playboy and original owner of the Millennium Falcon, Lando Calrissian, appears on the screen. Lando joins J.J. Abrams after a long gap. He last appeared in ‘Return of the Jedi.’ ‘Rise of the Skywalker’ is his first collaboration with Abrams after the director started the modern trilogy in 2015.
J.J Abrams brings back a number of characters into the movie, including Naomi Ackie, who plays the mysterious Jannah. Rumours also suggest that Ackie plays Lando’s daughter. The deadliest villain of the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy, the Emperor Palpatine makes his grand return with episode IX, ‘The Rise of the Skywalker.’ According to Abrams, the movie starts many months after Rian Johnson’s ‘The Last Jedi.’ He also called the reunion of Chewbacca, Poe, Finn, Rey, BB-8, and C-3PO under the Millennium Falcon as ‘an adventure that the group goes on together.’ But the director was tight-lipped about the mysterious absence of the longtime castmate R2-D2. The trailer also introduces the new entrant, D-O, a chirping droid wheeling alongside BB-8. The teaser closes with a chilling evil laugh of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.
Abrams revealed that the three heroes of his modern trilogy, Rey, played Ridley, Finn, played by Boyega, and Poe, played Isaac, unite for a cause for the first time. Their mission is to fight the ‘the greatest evil.’ ‘The Rise of the Skywalker’ is the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The movie wraps up the Skywalker family saga four decades after George Lucas’ original epic ‘Star Wars’ released. The last installment, ‘The Last Jedi,’ saw Leia Organa’s resistance movement was devastated by the First Order. The movie also showed Kylo Ren murdering his uncle Luke Skywalker after a showdown and the leader of the First Order, Supreme Leader Snoke. Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Billy Dee Williams are the surprises of the new teaser. Other actors from the sequel trilogy including Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, and Anthony Daniels return in their respective roles.
Watch the teaser trailer below.
‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ hits theaters on December 20, 2019.
