The final Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer focused on the protagonists of the sequel trilogy and some old friends such as Leia, Chewbacca, C3PO, and Lando Calrissian, but an underdeveloped character from the sequels might have been hidden among the crowd – Maz Kanata. Star Wars’ sequel trilogy began in 2015 with J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, introducing a new trio of heroes (Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron) as well as other characters that were teased to have a big presence in the trilogy, such as Lupita Nyong'o's Maz Kanata.
The “pirate queen” made her first appearance when Han Solo took Rey, Finn, and BB-8 to her castle to seek for her help. Maz Kanata turned out to be the one in possession of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, but how she got it hasn’t been revealed. Kanata appeared very briefly as a hologram in Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and she hasn’t appeared in any of the trailers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – or at least not at plain sight.
In the final Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer, there’s a scene with Lando Calrissian surrounded by a bunch of people (in typical Lando fashion). Among the attendees are Chewbacca, Poe Dameron, Finn, and someone who could very well be Admiral Ackbar’s son, but eagle-eyed fans may notice someone else: Maz Kanata was also there to witness whatever business the Resistance and Lando might have going on. Lupita Nyong’o has been confirmed as part of the cast, but Kanata might not have a big presence as she hasn’t appeared in any promotional material so far.
Of course, it could also be a good old marketing trick, and Kanata could have a bigger presence in The Rise of Skywalker than they have made viewers believe. After all, she has some unfinished business with the audience, and this is Disney’s final chance to solve the lightsaber plot hole. Star Wars fans have come up with many theories on how Kanata could have gotten the lightsaber, and some of these even involve Lando Calrissian, which makes even more sense now that the trailer has shown that they may know each other – if that’s, indeed, Maz Kanata in the trailer and not someone else of her species.
Following the same pattern of secrecy used with the previous films, Disney hasn’t revealed any actual plot details, and all there is about it is what has been shown in the trailers, so there’s no way in which fans can truly know how big Maz Kanata’s role will be in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But for the sake of not leaving any more plot holes in the Skywalker saga, hopefully she will have a bigger presence than before.
