It all began over 40 years ago withGeorge Lucas’ original space-opera blockbuster_Star Wars– and now,a few trilogies later, we’re coming to the end of the latest era of the galaxy far, far away.Episode IXwill follow up the box-office-bustingForce AwakensandLast Jedi_to wrap up the stories of budding young Jedi Rey, Darth Vader’s emotionally, er,_complex_grandson Ben Solo, and the surviving members of the Resistance.
The stage is set for an epic finale – Snoke is dead, Luke Skywalker is one with the Force, and there’s a Porg still loose on the Millennium Falcon. Is the Jedi master truly gone? How will General Leia’s story wrap up? And is there any hope of redemption for the villainous Solo? Here’s what we know so far about_Star Wars: Episode IX_.
Who’s The Director Of The Rise Of Skywalker?
J.J. Abrams is back after kicking off the new Star Wars era with The Force Awakens in 2015. “With The Force Awakens, J.J. delivered everything we could have possibly hoped for,” said Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy in a statement. “I am so excited that he is coming back to close out this trilogy.”
Abrams was brought in after Jurassic World's Colin Trevorrow left the project over the usual "creative differences". Trevorrow later said the circumstances of his departure were quite amicable, and that setting out his personal Star Wars stall in front of George Lucas and Mark Hamill was still one of the highlights of his career to date.
Who Wrote The Rise Of Skywalker?
After Trevorrow left the project, his scripts with regular writing partner Derek Connolly and Harry Potter And The Cursed Child's Jack Thorne were left behind in lieu of a new screenplay. The credited script comes from Abrams and Chris Terrio, the man behind the scripts for Argo and Batman V Superman. Given that The Last Jedi appeared to be deliberately unpicking many of Abrams' Force Awakens decisions, it'll be fascinating to see what, if anything, Abrams reinstates. Will he go back on the question of Rey's parentage, for example? "I will say that we knew going into this that this movie had to be a satisfying conclusion, and we’re well aware that Rey’s parentage is one of the things that’s sort of been out there," Abrams said in a video interview with ABC. "We've honoured what happens in Episode VIII... but I will say there’s more to the story than you’ve seen."
What’s The Story In The Rise Of Skywalker?
This is a Star Wars movie – security is tighter than Han Solo and Chewbacca’s lifelong bromance, and the secrets are under Imperial guard. All we can do for now is infer info from the returning Last Jedi lot and the new additions to the cast (more on that below). However, according to Oscar Isaac, Episode IX isn't just the end of the sequel trilogy – it's a bookend to an entire family drama. “It is the end of the entire Skywalker saga,” he said on The Today Show. “Nine stories, and this is the culmination of the thing, and I think what J.J.’s done, and really the whole Lucas team, is going to be incredibly fulfilling.”
Abrams has stated the film doesn’t pick up directly after The Last Jedi at that some significant time will have elapsed.
And after The Last Jedi sent our heroes all over the galaxy — Rey to Ach-To, Poe to butt heads with Admiral Holdo, Finn and Rose to the horse racing on Canto Bight — Abrams has confirmed that The Rise Of Skywalker keeps the group united. “This is an adventure that the group goes on together,” he says. “One of the great things about it is the dynamic between the characters.”
Who Is Starring In The Rise Of Skywalker?
Daisy Ridley plays Rey
With Luke Skywalker gone, Daisy Ridley's Rey is now the last Jedi – or at least the only one in existence as far as we know. The whole future of the order rests with her.
Adam Driver plays Kylo Ren
Following the death of Snoke, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren (the erstwhile Ben Solo) is now Supreme Leader of the First Order. We can expect him to be further on the warpath to the destruction of the Resistance, and to be continuing to work on erasing every shred of his personal history.
John Boyega plays Finn
John Boyega's ex-Stormtrooper Finn spent The Last Jedi separated from Rey, but Boyega says the pair will be reunited in Episode IX. Boyega has also said that Episode IX will be about "all-out war* between the First Order and the Resistance (although he still hadn't read a screenplay when he said that).
Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron
With Vice Admiral Holdo dead, Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron was primed at the end of The Last Jedi to take full command of the Resistance. That would make sense, meaning the trilogy would chart his personal arc from reckless flyboy to responsible leader.
Lupita Nyong’o plays Maz Kanata
Lupita Nyong'o returns as the wizened pirate queen who gave Rey the lightsaber and sent Finn and Rose off on their adventure to Canto Bight.
Domhnall Gleeson plays General Hux
Having reluctantly accepted Kylo Ren's claim on the title of Supreme Leader of the First Order, we last saw Domhnall Gleeson's beleaguered General Hux regretting that decision at the Battle of Crait.
Kelly Marie Tran plays Rose Tico
Kelly Marie Tran's maintenance worker / hacker / Snowspeeder pilot Rose was one of the Resistance’s few survivors, evacuated following the battle on Crait. We last saw her unconscious, with Finn keeping a close eye on her recovery. Her character and their relationship are both likely to develop further in Episode IX.
Billie Lourd plays Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix
Billie Lourd (Carrie Fisher's daughter) only had a brief appearance in The Force Awakens but her role as Lieutenant Connix expanded in The Last Jedi. She was one of Poe Dameron's attempted mutineers aboard the Raddus, and was on the Millennium Falcon with the rest of the Crait survivors as The Last Jedi concluded.
Billy Dee Williams plays Lando Calrissian
While his younger self was brought to life by Donald Glover in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the Lando Calrissian we know from the classic trilogy will represent the "legacy players" this time out. Billy Dee Williams was confirmed to be getting his cape collection out of mothballs in July, 2018.
Ian McDiarmid plays The Emperor
The first teaser trailer ends with Luke Skywalker’s line from The Last Jedi — “No one’s ever really gone” — before a familiar sinister cackle turns the line on its head. Emperor Palpatine is back from the grave in some capacity: confirmed by Ian McDiarmid's surprise on-stage presence at the Star Wars celebration in April 2019, and by Abrams himself, who told Empire he was amazed he managed to keep it secret. Quite how he'll appear and the extent of his involvement, however, remains to be seen.
Naomi Ackie plays Jannah
Naomi Ackie won the British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performance as Anna in Lady Macbeth (a role she originated on stage). She's also appeared in Doctor Who and in Idris Elba's Yardie. In The Rise Of Skywalker she plays Jannah, of whom all we know is that she's a feral looking character who might have been at home in Mad Max: Fury Road. Fan scuttlebutt suggests Jannah might be an alien who helps the Resistance liberate First Order prisoners somewhere new and dangerous... but that's still firmly rumour for now.
Richard E. Grant
"I saw Star Wars in 1977 when I was at drama school," tweeted Richard E. Grant in celebration of his top secret new role. "Being cast in the final instalment of the Skywalker trilogy in 2018 feels like an utterly out of body experience!" Fans were liking the idea that he's playing Grand Admiral Thrawn: a character from novels by Timothy Zahn who's already made the jump from page to screen in Star Wars Rebels. Grant, however, insisted in the summer of 2018 that heisn't playing Thrawn.
Keri Russell
Keri Russell worked with Abrams previously in the TV drama Felicity and in Mission: Impossible III. She was confirmed to have been cast in an as-yet unnamed role on 27 July, 2018.
Joonas Suotamo plays Chewbacca
Joonas Suotamo returns as Chewbacca, having previously played the Wookiee in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Anthony Daniels plays C3PO
Because it would simply feel wrong if Anthony Daniels didn't at least make a cameo.
Dominic Monaghan
Monaghan, a veteran of the Lord Of The Rings movies, worked with Abrams on Lost and is an avowed Star Wars fan who even asked if he could score a role when the writer/producer/director signed on to make The Force Awakens. Abrams has made his dream come true, though the details of his role haven’t been announced.
Matt Smith (?)
The former Doctor Who star was reported in August, 2018 to be playing a "key" but otherwise typically undislosed part in the film. Fast-forward seven months however, and Smith says he isn't in it at all. Truth or mischief? You decide.
Is General Leia / Carrie Fisher In The Rise Of Skywalker?
Yes. Carrie Fisher's brother Todd Fisher and daughter Billie Lourd gave permission for Disney and LucasFilm to utilise previously unused footage of Fisher in future films. Initially Kathleen Kennedy thought that Episode IX would not end up including Leia. But in a statement released at the start of production, J.J. Abrams revealed that leftover footage of Fisher from The Force Awakens would make its way into the new film.
Not only that, but Todd has claimed there’s a significant amount of footage to use to conclude Leia’s story. “There’s a lot of minutes of footage. I don’t mean just outtakes,” he said on Good Morning America. “This is unused, new content that could be woven into the storyline. That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be. Like it was shot yesterday.”
Is Luke Skywalker / Mark Hamill In The Rise Of Skywalker?
Yes. And if that seems odd, given what transpired in The Last Jedi, we'd point you in the direction of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi, both of which featured Alec Guinness as Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi, despite the character’s death in Star Wars. Luke-as-Force-Ghost is a distinct possibility, unless Abrams has found a new or different way of bringing him back. Either way, Mark Hamill’s return was confirmed at the start of production.
What is a Sith Trooper?
This is a Sith Trooper. A Sith Trooper appears to be a Stormtrooper, but red. The name, however, hints at the presence of a Sith Lord in The Rise Of Skywalker. But who? Is it connected to the supposed re-emergence of the Emperor (see above)? Has Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, officially ascended to become a Sith – and not just leader of the First Order – since the end of The Last Jedi?
Who Is Composing The Rise Of Skywalker’s Score?
He (mostly) sat out the standalones Rogue One and Solo, but John Williams has stuck with the "numbered" Star Wars episodes, and will return to score Episode IX. The veteran composer says he's looking forward to it, but that it will be his final Star Wars soundtrack: the conclusion of a project he began way back in 1977. "It will round out a series of nine," he said. "That will be quite enough for me."
When Did The Rise Of Skywalker Shoot?
It all kicked off on 1 August 2018 in the UK, with Abrams marking the start of production with a tweet in tribute to Carrie Fisher. “Bittersweet starting this next chapter without Carrie, but thanks to an extraordinary cast and crew, we are ready to go,” he wrote, adding: “Grateful for Rian Johnson and special thanks to George Lucas for creating this incredible world and beginning a story of which we are lucky to be a part.”
What Is The Rise Of Skywalker’s Release Date?
The sequel trilogy will conclude on 20 December 2019.
Need to get up to speed with the existing Star Wars canon? Here'sEmpire's guide to the perfect viewing order.
Trailers
The first teaser trailer was released in April, 2019.