Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will reportedly have a panel during this year's San Diego Comic-Con. Lucasfilm always has a presence at the premier pop culture convention, but in their Disney era, the only film to take over Hall H was 2015's The Force Awakens. Back then, director J.J. Abrams and the cast were on hand to help usher fans into a new era for the galaxy far, far away and then surprise them with a concert performed by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. The other modern Star Wars movies were promoted at different summertime events like Celebration Europe 2016 and the 2017 D23 Expo.
As fate would have it, Abrams returned to Star Wars to helm Episode IX, which concludes the sequel trilogy and the entire Skywalker saga. In many ways, it represents the end of an era before Lucasfilm looks ahead to new horizons like the film series being developed by Rian Johnson and David Benioff & D.B. Weiss. Perhaps it's fitting the slate that began with Abrams four years ago ends with him definitively closing the book. And in an instance of things coming full circle, it looks like Abrams and company will be returning to Comic-Con.
According to Making Star Wars, The Rise of Skywalker will have a panel during Comic-Con 2019, which takes place July 18 - 21. Screen Rant contacted Disney for comment and will update this space accordingly.
No official details have been revealed yet, but this wouldn't be surprising if it proved to be true. Celebration Chicago (where the first Episode IX trailer debuted) took place earlier this month, and D23 2019 (where The Mandalorian will allegedly be featured) isn't until August. While there will be several other major Hollywood properties vying for attention during Comic-Con, that week is still a golden opportunity for Lucasfilm to continue their Rise of Skywalker marketing campaign. In keeping with their previous practices, it wouldn't be surprising if the studio showed a behind-the-scenes sizzle reel exploring the making of Episode IX during the panel. It's not a coincidence ones for Force Awakens and Last Jedi came out in July of their respective years of release.
One thing fans should not expect to see, however, is announcements about future films. Lucasfilm is putting the Star Wars movies on hiatus for a couple of years after The Rise of Skywalker as they iron out what they want to do next. With the next wave of films so far off, it seems highly unlikely they'll even be mentioned during this particular Comic-Con panel (especially since there will be another Star Wars Celebration come 2020). The focus here is going to be on the present, hyping up Episode IX before its premiere in theaters this December. And since so much of the film remains under wraps right now, hopefully there are some fun reveals in store.
Source: Making Star Wars
