The Rise of Skywalker: More Tidbits on Dark Rey, the Double-Bladed Lightsaber, the Emperor, More Death Stars and Cast Interviews
Yesterday was an exciting day for all Star Wars fans. While we didn’t have many reveals, we still got a new poster and a footage description for The Rise of Skywalker, with some really interesting and surprising plot details. After the Walt Disney Studios panel at D23, the cast, the director, and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy talked with the press, revealing even more small but interesting tidbits about the upcoming closure of the Skywalker saga.
First we start with the most interesting reveal from yesterday – Dark Rey.
It’s worth pointing out that in their coverage of the event, StarWars.com described that scene with the following sentence (via Reddit):
“…but the new footage, including a moment where Rey appears to toss a fully-ignited lightsaber, and of course the vision of a Rey with a reticulated red blade, was nothing short of thrilling.”
After few fans pointed this out, the sentence was reworded:
“…but the new footage, including a moment where Rey appears to toss a fully-ignited lightsaber, and of course the sight of Rey with a reticulated red blade, was nothing short of thrilling.”
I don’t want to dig too much into this. It’s very possible that they edited this word so that fans are not mislead by it, but we can all agree that this scene would make perfect sense only if it’s some kind of vision. So there is a big chance that this was a honest slip by the author.
Speaking about dark Rey, Reddit user Ob1Zan did a quick sketch of the lightsaber Daisy used in that scene:
We’ve seen a similar lightsaber in the TV show Rebels, when Kanan encountered the spectral forms of several Temple Guards, including the Grand Inquisitor in the abandoned Jedi Temple on Lothal, through a Force vision (see below).
Then in another interview Daisy Ridley shared that she was surprised they revealed dark Rey in the D23 footage.
We were honestly so shook over that @starwars #RiseOfTheSkywalker red lightsaber reveal! Daisy Ridley, @JohnBoyega & Kelly Marie Tran were equally as shocked! #D23Expo2019 #D23Expo #StarWars #starwarstheriseofskywalker pic.twitter.com/Dvg3pRmt4g
— Access (@accessonline) August 25, 2019
While it’s clear that we will see dark Rey in some kind of a vision scene, like the cave scene in The Empire Strikes Back, Daisy assured us that “There’s no smoke without fire”. So obviously she will be tempted by the dark side in The Rise of Skywalker.
Daisy Ridley is definitely selling us on this idea of Dark Rey. Here’s what she told me: “I mean, the evidence is on the screen. Take that evidence as you will. But there’s no smoke without fire.”
📹 @ArjunaRamgopal #starwarstheriseofskywalker #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/7fjI1Ykzv2
— Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) August 25, 2019
Also the cast talked with IGN about the Emperor. Interesting quote from Daisy:
“He is very instrumental to the plot of the film. It’s not just like he appears again. It’s all explained.”
Some bad news for the people who thought Palpatine will be a clone in The Rise of Skywalker. 🙂
Here’s a very interesting quote from John Boyega regarding the movie:
“Definitely the scale, the scope of things. A whole bunch of Death Stars parked up in the air perfectly. That was a bit strange, don’t know why that’s happening ’cause they wiped out my memory”
The stars of #TheRiseOfSkywalker react to new footage of Rey in black robes with a red double-bladed saber. pic.twitter.com/Nu9o4xXWsm
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) August 25, 2019
While this almost sounded like a joke, “a bunch of Death Stars parked up in the air” fits with the new kind of Star Destroyer we told you about a few weeks ago here.
Could he be talking about these ships that technically have mini death stars attached to them? I guess we can’t end the Skywalker saga without having this iconic super weapon in the movie in some capacity.
Kelly Marie Tran reveals that The Rise of Skywalker will have a groundbreaking ending and Daisy Ridley says they did explore things in an old journey. You can watch that video at IGN here.
“I think the most important thing to take from that whole snippet is just that the ending of this whole film is going to be really, really groundbreaking, in a good way.” said Tran. “I think there are a lot of little pieces from the older films and everyone’s together in this one. We’re gonna go out with a bang.”
“I think that it should hopefully show people that we did a big old journey and we explored some things,” said Ridley after the Disney panel. “So just you wait until the film.”
JJ Abrams on Carrie Fisher and the strange bit that Carrie knew she will work with him twice (via IGN):
“The character of Leia is really the heart of this story, we couldn’t possibly tell the end of these nine films without Leia.
The crazy part is, I was not supposed to be directing this film, and we lost Carrie, heartbreakingly, and so we started figuring out the story, and I remembered this thing I read, and people have asked me for years like, ‘What is Carrie like?’ She was almost supernaturally witty in a way, and I went back and looked in her last book and she had written in special thanks, and special thanks to J.J. Abrams for putting up with me twice – but I’d only worked with her once, and I wasn’t supposed to direct it. So it was a classic Carrie thing to write something like that.
We cannot wait for you to see her in her final performance as Leia.”
Below you can watch a few other interviews with the cast that didn’t bring too much to the table but still are very cool.
IMDb interviews
Director J.J. Abrams and stars #DaisyRidley and @JohnBoyega reveal possible unexpected turns in #StarWarsTheRiseofSkywalker. pic.twitter.com/96q0fyFCqM
— IMDb (@IMDb) August 25, 2019
Oscar Isaac and Keri Russell discuss their roles and relationship in The Rise of Skywalker.
Keri Russell and Oscar Isaac weigh in on Poe’s alleged attitude in #StarWars at #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/isoz1svDAa
— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2019
Keri Russell reveals details about her #StarWars character, Zorri, at #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/T20FgNZgl8
— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2019
Oscar Isaac and Keri Russell tease possible #StarWars prequels at #D23Expo: “We might have to give them a little something” pic.twitter.com/wlUJJHCJqb
— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2019
Kelly Marie Tran on Rose’s relationship with Finn in The Rise of Skywalker:
Kelly Marie Tran weighs in on the Rose-Finn kiss: “I’m excited for people to further explore these relationships” pic.twitter.com/K78aQZWayy
— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2019
John Boyega on Finn in The Rise of Skywalker:
John Boyega teases some #RiseOfSkyWalker tidbits #d23 https://t.co/riFUMn7k83 pic.twitter.com/5tVGnEdbCM
— Variety (@Variety) August 24, 2019
GMA also sat down with the cast, director JJ Abrams and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and asked them to describe the Rey-Kylo relationship in The Rise of Skywalker in one word:
That’s all for now. Don’t forget that The Rise of Skywalker footage that was revealed at D23 will be officially released publicly on Monday. So stay tuned for that.
Special thanks to sleemo for finding some of these videos. Make sure to follow her on Twitter.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
