Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) pilots the Millennium Falcon for the very first time in the latest photo from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. J.J. Abrams' much buzzed-about conclusion to the sequel trilogy he kicked off with 2015's The Force Awakens is just around the corner, and will double as the finale to the Skywalker Saga when it arrives. For the large part, however, the film is expected to focus on providing a satisfying ending to the stories of its young heroes - Finn, Rey, and Poe - and their enemy Kylo Ren.
When audiences met Poe in The Force Awakens, he was introduced as a hotshot X-Wing pilot for the Resistance against the First Order. He eventually led a group of Resistance fighters into aerial battle and successfully blew up Starkiller Base near the conclusion of the film. Unfortunately, things didn't go so well for Poe in 2017's The Last Jedi, where he led a pair of offensives that either suffered heavy losses or were abandoned part-way through. As it turns out, The Rise of Skywalker will not only offer him a chance to even the score, but to do so while flying the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
EW has unveiled a brand-new photo from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, showing Poe piloting the Falcon for the very first time with Finn (John Boyega) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). Take a look, below.
The Rise of Skywalker's plot is firmly under-wraps at the moment, so it's difficult to say (with any certainty) what Finn and the others are looking at in this image. Quite possibly, the trio are caught up in a gigantic space battle - maybe even the one involving an armada of Star Destroyers, as seen in The Rise of Skywalker's final trailer. The Millennium Falcon is really Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Chewbacca's ship now, but it only makes sense for Poe to take the steering wheel during an intense situation; he is one of the best pilots in the galaxy, after all. Then again, Rey might not even be onboard during this particular scene.
Previously-released footage and images from The Rise of Skywalker have confirmed that Rey, Poe, Finn, and Chewbacca will take a ride in the Falcon together at some point in the film (if not a few times overall). They'll have to split up later, though, with Poe, Finn, and Chewie's battle with the First Order taking them to space and Rey setting out to fight Kylo Ren and/or the newly-resurrected Emperor Palpatine on-foot. Nevertheless, it will fun to see the four of them finally all together and going on an adventure before then. And even better, Poe will get to try his hand at piloting the late Han Solo's galaxy-famous spaceship - something audiences have been waiting to see for the past four years - in The Rise of Skywalker.
Source: EW
