Former director Colin Trevorrow's treatment for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has made its way online, and it sounds so much better than the one audiences got from J.J. Abrams. Originally hired to finish the sequel trilogy, Trevorrow was in the process of working on the film's script when it was announced in September 2017 that he exited the project due to creative differences with Lucasfilm. Not long after that when it was revealed that Abrams was returning to take on the mantle after he kicked off the ongoing story via Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.
It would be an understatement to say that The Rise of Skywalker's filmmakers had their work cut out for them. Not only did the film need to be a satisfying culmination of the Skywalker saga, but it also had to work around the untimely death of Carrie Fisher, whose General Leia Organa was supposed to be a major focus of the movie. Plus, it needed to wrap up the sequel trilogy's story revolving around Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Poe Dameron.
Fast forward to 2019, Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was met with divisive response from the public for a string of different reasons. And with the leak of Trevorrow's unused script for Star Wars: Episode IX, comparing it to what's officially canon, is inevitable. Based on what's been revealed thus far, it also sounds like a better story than what we got on the big screen.
Colin Trevorrow's Reported Star Wars 9 Script
A version of Trevorrow's script leaked online (and has been confirmed by various outlets), giving fans a sense of what his plans were for Star Wars 9 before his departure from the project. The most recent version of the treatment was finished just after Fisher's death in December 2016, explaining why there's not much about Leia in the story. Titled "Duel of the Fates," the script has several key differences from The Rise of Skywalker, including giving Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) a proper arc. She joins Finn (John Boyega), C-3PO, and R2-D2 for an adventure of heir own - going to Coruscant in the hopes of recruiting more allies to the Resistance.
Another glaring difference is the handling of Rey's (Daisy Ridley) lineage, who is not a Palpatine in this version of the story. While the story did include Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), his appearance was only through a holocron that Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) discovered, setting off his path through the whole movie. Kylo Ren's story arc panned out very differently as he gets entangled with Tor Valum - a 7,000-year-old ghoul who apparently trained Darth Sidious. In the end, he wasn't redeemed, although he also suffered the same tragic fate. As the brainchild of Trevorrow, Duel of the Fates unsurprisingly also didn't include new Star Wars characters like Zori Bliss (Keri Russell) and the fan-favorite Babu Frik (voiced by Shirley Henderson).
Trevorrow's Star Wars 9 Avoids Rise of Skywalker's Biggest Mistakes
The Rise of Skywalker received varying responses from the public, but there are a few story choices that Abrams and his co-writer Chris Terrio made that were the source of displeasure for some. One of which is the decision to link Rey to Emperor Palpatine. The Rise of Skywalker walked back on Star Wars: The Last Jedi's reveal that Rey was a nobody who only happens to be Force-sensitive and disclosed that she's the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine.
This understandably turned off those who found Rian Johnson's bold take on a leading Star Wars character refreshing. Some also perceived it as a knock on Rey's powers - as if the only reason she's so powerful with the Force is because of her familial connection with the Emperor. Duel of the Fates avoided this problem by not making Emperor Palpatine such a massive part of the story. Instead of questionably surviving his supposed death in Return of the Jedi and masterminding a whole elaborate plan to lure Rey to the dark side, Trevorrow's film only gave him a minuscule role, in which his primary purpose was seemingly to tie all three trilogies together.
Duel of the Fates would've also featured a bigger role for Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) Force ghost. Instead of only appearing in two instances - first during Rey's return to Ahch- To and at the end with his and Leia's Force ghost appearance before Rey on Tatooine, he would've also had interactions with Kylo Ren. This means that aside from providing guidance for Rey as she continued to hone her skills as a Jedi, Luke would've also had the chance to lure his nephew back to the light side. As previously mentioned, Rose would've also had something to do instead of being totally sidelined, which was a major criticism of The Rise of Skywalker.
Trevorrow's Star Wars 9 Is A True Last Jedi Sequel
After the release of The Rise of Skywalker, fans were quick to point out how it either glossed over or totally backtracked some elements from The Last Jedi. Some notable examples are the truth about Rey's lineage and Kylo Ren's path to becoming the trilogy's true main villain after he killed Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Finn and Rose's dynamic was also totally forgotten as there's no mention of their potential love connection teased at the end of The Last Jedi. While Trevorrow's Star Wars 9 didn't pick up every plot thread left by Johnson's film, it at least didn't directly contradict what was established in it. This, in turn, would've made it a true sequel to The Last Jedi.
For instance, Rey being a nobody stuck - in fact, Duel of the Fates even built on it when Kylo Ren revealed that he murdered her nameless parents, which was a mandate from Snoke. Seemingly showing no remorse at the crimes he committed, Kylo Ren maintained his allegiance to the dark side, which continued the path The Last Jedi set out for him. Force ghost Luke Skywalker haunting his nephew, on the other hand, paid off the legendary Jedi's parting words to Kylo Ren - "see you around, kid" - before his Force projection vanished on Crait. Finally, while Duel of the Fates doesn't appear to directly address Finn and Rose's potential romance, it furthered their relationship by sending them on a mission.
Would Trevorrow's Star Wars 9 Actually Be Better Than Rise of Skywalker?
Given all that we know about Trevorrow's Star Wars 9, what are the chances that it would've actually been better than Abrams' The Rise of Skywalker? It's difficult to tell considering that things can change during the execution of the script. Trevorrow doesn't necessarily have the best track record now with the critically-panned Book of Henry as his last directorial project. This reported leaked script also didn't divulge much of how it would've handled Leia in the film, which is a pivotal element of the movie - and quite frankly, an aspect that The Rise of Skywalker did quite well. While Duel of Fates sounds full of potential, its translation on the big screen may not have been as smooth as everyone imagines it would be.
Nevertheless, judging purely on what's in his script, it sounds that Trevorrow's movie had a more concise story than Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Aside from not actively backtracking on what's established in The Last Jedi, it seemed focused on closing out the narrative, acknowledging that there's already plenty of stories to tackle for a satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga. So instead of introducing entirely new plot lines that makes it feel like a blatant course correction from Lucasfilm, following the response from its predecessor, it picked up on where the story left off and worked from there to give fans the culminating movie they were promised.