One of the most memorable scenes in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Rey receive an entire universe’s worth of wisdom in a single minute of screen time. In it, we hear the myriad voices of Jedi long since force-ghosted out of the franchise, returning at once to grant perhaps their last kernel of insight to the new generation’s champion.
None of the voices returned in body, though. Instead, the dialogue was largely assembled from previously heard scraps (though in a couple of instances, newly recorded audio was employed). But that’s not how this miniature set piece was originally devised.
Over the last few days, there’s been tons of chatter online about Lucasfilm reportedly removing a lot of director J.J. Abrams’ vision from the film and one thing they apparently cut was in-the-flesh cameos for many of these Jedi who spoke to Rey. Yes, an earlier plan was to have had cast members from previous Star Wars movies and TV shows appear to Rey visually, alongside the audio we ultimately heard.
Speaking to our own sources – who told us [SPOILERS] would be Rey’s new trainer in the film, young Luke will feature in the Obi-Wan show and that Rey is Palpatine’s [SPOILERS], all of which turned out to be true – this is indeed what was on the cards. And furthermore, we’re told Hayden Christensen would’ve been back as Anakin in this scene. While some of the Jedi like Ahsoka would’ve been in the shadows and more or less hidden, we would’ve apparently clearly seen Anakin’s face.
Whether it was because the logistics of it were too impractical, or the weight of callbacks was felt too cumbersome for the viewer, it remains unclear why Lucasfilm ultimately removed this from the movie. Christiansen devotees can’t even rely on the hope that George Lucas will edit him into a later edition of the film, either, as that ship has long-since sailed. Vocal homecomings are our Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lot. Take it or leave it, I s’pose.
