The final trailer for Star Wars: Episode IX –The Rise of Skywalker has been released by Disney and Lucasfilm.
It was unveiled on Monday night during the half time of a football game between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots in the US.
Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and BB-8 all feature in the newly released clip. The late Carrie Fisher, who died before the release of The Last Jedi, also makes an appearance thanks to scenes shot during The Force Awakens.
“People keep telling me they know me... no one does,” Rey says at one point as her relationship to the Force (and her potential Skywalker ties) are teased further.
Directed by JJ Abrams, Star Wars 9 will focus on the regrouping of the Resistance following heavy losses against the First Order and Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi (2017).
Also returning in the sequel will be Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo).
Newcomers include Richard E Grant, Naomi Ackie, Lost star Dominic Monaghan and Keri Russell in a “crucial” role believed to be associated with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), whom fans are convinced will return as a Force ghost in the new film after dying in Episode VIII.
Some fans think a leaked image of a brand new character revealed who former Doctor Who and The Crown star Matt Smith will play.
In terms of the original cast from George Lucas’s Star Wars films, Billy Dee Williams will reprise the role of Lando Calrissian, having last appeared as the smuggler in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, along with Denis Lawson who plays Luke’s Rogue Squadron co-founder, Wedge Antilles (fun fact: he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor’s uncle).
Abrams has also confirmed that Ian McDiarmid will be back as the villain Palpatine – although some have theorised he actually appeared in The Last Jedi in disguise as another character.
Some fans have been left concerned by the trailer, believing that its most emotional moment signals the death of one of the franchise's most beloved characters.
One huge theory that’s been doing the rounds predicts not only the return of Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker, but that the film’s title refers to the character who became Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker reaches cinemas on 16 December 2019.
