After over a year of anticipation and speculation, the first trailer for the conclusion to the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, was revealed last month at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago. As expected, the The Rise of Skywalker reveal has only increased anticipation and speculation from fans as the release date approaches at the end of the year.
There's especially a lot of interest surrounding Rey, who is in possession of Luke Skywalker’s legendary lightsaber and showed off a badass flip to dodge Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer. The scene is a standout moment from The Rise of Skywalker teaser. Daisy Ridley recently gushed about her character’s presence in the record-breaking trailer, even nudging at its significance to the upcoming installment. In her words:
It’s nice having that shot at the beginning of the teaser, because I think it’s quite a good visual representation of where she is now: confident, calm, less fearful.… It’s still sort of overwhelming, but in a different way. It feels more right—less like inevitable and more like there’s a focus to the journey.
When Rey was introduced in The Force Awakens, she was discovering her powers and starting her journey that has since had her training the ways of the Jedi with Luke and going head-to-head with Kylo Ren. After finding her place with the resistance, Episode IX looks to show her with a more defined role in the story and with more control over her strengths. It’ll be exciting to see Rey finally shine to the best of her abilities now that she really knows what she’s capable of!
There are some other questions floating around concerning Rey as well though. The Last Jedi revealed that Rey is not a Skywalker, she’s the daughter of “no one,” i.e. her parents were insignificant. After the divisive response of Episode VIII, some think the film will retcon some of Rian Johnson’s choices, including Rey’s lineage. J.J. Abrams did recently tease that there is more to the story then what was revealed in The Last Jedi, so the film will likely explore her past more in depth.
A key reason for fans’ speculation that Rey is actually a Skywalker after all is the film’s title, but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the upcoming release, and may details will likely be under wraps until the movie hits theaters. Another loose end fans will be looking to be addressed is the fate of Rey and Kylo’s relationship. While some have dreamt up a budding romance, Daisy Ridley has voiced her disinterest in this because of the emotional abuse and violence Kylo has shown.
Per Daisy Ridley's words to Vanity Fair, The Rise of Skywalker will show off a more confident and capable Rey. Daisy Ridley returns alongside John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson and Kelly Marie Tran when the Star Wars conclusion hits theaters on December 20.
