Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker star Richard E. Grant teases a major plot twist in the film. As has become the norm, Disney's run an extremely measured marketing campaign as they continue to promote the Skywalker saga finale. Despite the recent flurry of still images, TV spots, featurettes, and international trailers, audiences are still largely in the dark on what the movie is even about in a general sense. Director J.J. Abrams may claim advertising on Rise of Skywalker is less secretive than his previous movies (and in a way, there's some truth to that), but much about the film remains a mystery.
Disney and Lucasfilm clearly want to keep The Rise of Skywalker under wraps for as long as humanly possible, going to every length they can to preserve all of the spoilers fans crave. Abrams, infamous for his mystery box approach to storytelling, has gotten into trouble in the past for closely guarding "secrets" that proved anticlimactic (see: Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness). But considering how cryptic the studio's being this time around, some believe there's a legitimate reason behind the strategy. If Grant is to be believed, that's precisely the case.
In an interview with Yahoo, Grant was asked what he thought would surprise viewers the most, and he spoke in vague terms about a plot twist that blindsided him:
"The big character plot twist that I had no idea would be coming. It made total emotional sense and story sense and I thought that was really smart. And I think that's an incredible thing to take something that began with the first movie in 1977 and nine movies later reach a conclusion/resolution."
Obviously, Grant was not at liberty to discuss this matter in further detail, but his comments will stoke the flames of Rise of Skywalker speculation. It'd be reasonable to assume the twist the actor's referring to concerns one of the sequel trilogy's main characters, such as Rey or Kylo Ren. Abrams has already said there's more to the story about Rey's much-theorized parentage, so it'll be interesting to see what's revealed there. The twist could even be about Finn, as The Rise of Skywalker explores more of the former stormtrooper's origins. Of course, it's always possible this is in relation to Palpatine, whose role has been shrouded in secrecy ever since the first Rise of Skywalker teaser trailer premiered at Celebration Chicago. Whatever the case, in Grant's eyes, the twist elevates the narrative, which is a positive sign. Plot twists are a very tempting device for filmmakers, but there needs to be logic behind the decision.
At the time these comments were made, Grant was unsure if the twist would be in the film, so this interview took place prior to the Rise of Skywalker cast screening. Grant gave the movie a positively glowing review after seeing it, but it's still anyone's best guess if Abrams included the twist in the final product. Since Grant described it as a "big character plot twist," it'd be reasonable to assume the twist is there, waiting for audiences to discover it in a little over a week. Surely, The Rise of Skywalker has scenes left on the cutting room floor, but plot twists tend to be rather meaningful for the story, so it's difficult to think something that major was completely left out. Fortunately, audiences don't have much longer to wait to find out for themselves.
Source: Yahoo
