Star Wars will close this year, with the release of The Rise of Skywalker primed to bring 40 years, 10 movies and countless storylines to an end. Anticipation for the blockbuster is building and, after one teaser trailer and footage shown at D23 so far, fans are anticipating more footage to emerge ahead of its release this winter.
As usual, there are many "leaks" out there about the forthcoming trailer, with much of the talk saying that it will be mostly centered around Palpatine, Kylo Ren and Rey. The trio, as well as C3PO, feature prominently in this list as we look at the hottest rumors regarding what Disney will show us next.
It Will Start With A Cube
Originally, leaks stated that The Rise of Skywalker would begin with a flashback sequence involving Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa before the latter would give birth to Ben Solo. The latest gossip has, however, suggested that that scene has either been taken out of the movie entirely or moved to be later in the film with the blockbuster instead primed to open with Kylo Ren.
It’s claimed that Kylo Ren will encounter a mysterious floating cube on the dark planet of Exogol. He will go to touch the tube to find himself being transported to a mysterious place where an ancient villain lies in wait...
Palpatine Introduction
Kylo Ren will reportedly emerge from the cube to find a disheveled old man being cared for. This old villain claims to be Darth Sidious but Kylo, having heard stories about how grandfather Darth Vader ended the Empire’s reign by murdering the Emperor, doesn’t initially believe him.
This isn’t surprising given we also thought Palpatine was dead after being thrown down the chute of the second Death Star all those years ago. He’s said to look even older and crippled than he did during the original trilogy which, given it’s a whole 30 years on, does make sense.
Kylo Ren Tries To Kill Palpatine
In The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren is able to emerge from the shackles placed on him by Supreme Leader Snoke by murdering his master during an epic scene on a Star Destroyer. He did so because he was fed up of answering to the villain and wanted all the power himself as a result.
And the forthcoming trailer for The Rise of Skywalker will reportedly show a scene where Kylo, not convinced Sidious is who he says he is, attempts to kill the old man. He’s left reeling, however, when Palpatine is unfazed and Adam Driver’s character ultimately chooses to do the bidding of the evil Sith Lord by bringing Rey to him.
‘I’ll Go Alone’
After spending a fair chunk of the trailer showing off Kylo Ren and Palpatine joining forces, or at least appearing to, it will then seemingly cut to Rey. She’ll be training on the same forest planet we saw during the D23 footage and Finn will also be on-screen during this time.
It’s claimed that Rey will tell Finn and seemingly other members of the Resistance that ‘she needs to go alone’. While we don’t know for sure, we theorize she may be talking about taking on the Emperor and Kylo Ren, similar to how Luke Skywalker tackled the Emperor and Darth Vader many years ago.
But C3PO Stops Her
C3PO has barely been in either of the previous Star Wars sequel trilogy movies, with BB-8 instead the droid that’s had the most screen time. But with The Rise of Skywalker trying to give us a satisfying conclusion to the series, we can expect to see more of Anthony Davies’ character.
The leaks suggest that when Rey talks about going alone, C3PO insists that he and other members of the Resistance will be going with her. This tallies with older claims that the heroes will largely stick together this time around, rather than fighting their separate battles like they did in The Last Jedi.
C3PO Fires A Bowcaster
Another thing about C3PO - we may see him use a weapon! Fans of the saga will know the protocol droid has done this once before, way back in 2002’s Attack of the Clones where a mix-up at a droid factory sees his head placed on the body of a Battle Droid. He would fight (poorly) in the battle of Geonosis before R2D2 was able to rescue him.
Yet we may get another action sequence starring our favorite rude protocol droid. An old leaked poster showed him appearing to have Chewbacca’s iconic bowcaster and leaks suggest we’ll see him firing the weapon in the trailer, wiping out First Order troopers. We have a question, though. How bad do things have to be if C3PO’s fighting like a soldier?
Rey Wields Two Lightsabers
Another hot "leak" about The Rise of Skywalker trailer is that it will get audiences talking with another Rey lightsaber moment. The internet went into meltdown when the D23 footage released a couple of months ago showed Daisy Ridley’s character wielding a double-bladed crimson lightsaber with a villainous glint in her eye as well.
But this trailer may crank things up a notch by showing Rey wielding two lightsabers - with neither of them red. She obviously is the possessor of the famous Skywalker lightsaber, which has been around since the very beginning. And it’s been suggested online that Rey will also inherit Leia Organa’s old weapon, one she gave up in order to be a mother many years ago.
A Dagger Is Seen
Now, this is interesting because there have been rumors about an old Sith dagger for some time. Rumors suggest that there will be a glimpse of the weapon during the next Rise of Skywalker trailer and, to many, that will get them talking. Online, however, others have claimed to know the role it will play in the overall story.
The dagger was reportedly used in order to kill Rey’s parents - which is why she wants to find it. It may contain more answers for her following Kylo Ren’s infuriatingly-vague statement that they were ‘nobodies’ in The Last Jedi and we’re intrigued to see how it all plays out.
Darth Sidious Anoints Kylo Ren
The trailer will reportedly end with Darth Sidious seemingly anointing Kylo Ren into the ways of the Sith, much as he did with grandfather Darth Vader during 2005’s Revenge of the Sith. This seems to suggest Kylo will willingly give up the vast power he’s achieved in order to pledge his allegiance to the villain, despite him ruining Vader’s life.
If this happens then wow, goosebumps. To think of Kylo emulating Vader again is exciting - but it remains to be seen if he will be loyal to Palpatine the entire time or find a way to return to the light side of the force.
There’s No Luke Skywalker
The Rise of Skywalker trailer seems to spend much time focusing on the characters of Rey, Kylo Ren, Emperor Palpatine and even C3PO. However, the same ‘leaks’ have suggested Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker will be absent from the entire thing, meaning Disney are eager to keep details involving his return a secret.
Disney adopted a strict approach regarding Luke during both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, meaning that more of the same lies in store. Whether or not they can redeem his character from the controversial nature of his behavior in the previous movie, though, is something only time will tell.