Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker features a cool John Williams Easter egg fans might have missed. Williams' contributions to the Star Wars franchise cannot be overstated. Since the original film in 1977, the legendary composer has crafted several memorable musical cues that helped elevate the movies and turn the property into the phenomenon it is today. It's impossible to look at classic Star Wars imagery and not think about the score that played over the scenes. Though viewers will always be divided on the pros and cons of the films themselves, just about everyone agrees Williams' work is always exemplary.
With The Rise of Skywalker concluding the iconic Skywalker saga and wrapping up Williams' time in a galaxy far, far away, J.J. Abrams made sure to put Williams in front of the camera in the film. Williams has a minor Rise of Skywalker cameo, appearing in a seedy establishment on Kijimi as the Resistance heroes make their way to meet Babu Frik. Getting the opportunity to see Williams onscreen was thrilling enough for fans, but the scene also includes several nods to his unparalleled career.
The making-of documentary in the Rise of Skywalker home media release has a segment focused on Williams. In it, Abrams reveals each of the props surrounding Williams represents the 51 Oscar nominations Williams received up to that point. Examples include Indiana Jones' whip from Raiders of the Lost Ark, the barrels from Jaws, and the iron from Home Alone.
It's abundantly clear from the documentary footage Abrams (understandably) has a great deal of reverence for Williams and felt honored to work with the man he called a "supernatural genius." Regardless of how one feels about The Rise of Skywalker, it's quite touching to see Abrams and the team go above and beyond to pay homage to the maestro - especially considering Williams had only a few fleeting seconds of screen time in the film. It would have been easy to just populate the set with random "junk" since the prop department's efforts were going to go largely unnoticed when people watched the movie. But since this was John Williams, Abrams wanted to do something a little more special. As fans rewatch The Rise of Skywalker while quarantined, they'll try to identify as many of the items as they can. With the ability to pause and analyze the scene, odds are someone will put together a list. It's unlikely all 51 are visible in the movie, however.
After scoring all nine episodes of the Skywalker saga, Williams is done with Star Wars, leaving behind an astounding legacy. It's difficult to picture new Star Wars movies without his immense talents, but Lucasfilm has been able to add to the franchise's rich musical legacy sans Williams. For instance, The Mandalorian's main theme became a hit when the Disney+ original premiered last November, and Clone Wars composer Kevin Kiner has actually made more Star Wars music than Williams. Surely, Lucasfilm will bring in the industry's best names to add their voices to the property. Nobody is going to fill Williams' shoes, but the tradition can continue.