The 9 Biggest Reveals From The Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer

At last, today saw the much-anticipated Episode IX panel at Chicago's Star Wars Celebration. We got a lot of interesting new info and photos about the closer to the Sequel Trilogy, but Lucasfilm saved the best until the end of the panel: the reveal of the first teaser trailer for the movie. And it didn't disappoint. The Star Wars fandom is in a bit of a fractured place right now, with fans not being able to agree on the merits of the past two movies in the franchise - The Last Jedi and Solo, respectively. No one does trailers like Star Wars, though, and it seems that this teaser has managed the impossible and united the entire fandom in agreeing that this is a fantastic way to hype us up for the film. Which we now know is titled The Rise of Skywalker. The 2-minute preview hints at a perfect mix of the old and new, as fresh characters and locations are teased alongside glimpses of much-missed old favorites, including a couple of major shocks we weren't expecting. So, let's dig deep and examine the 9 biggest reveals from the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer. Luke Is Back Well, first things first... Luke Skywalker is back! The trailer opens on a nervous breathing which we soon find out is Rey. Then as the young Jedi calms, a voiceover starts up and it's instantly recognizable as Mark Hamill, despite Luke having perished at the end of TLJ. "We've passed on all we know," the late Jedi master intones. "A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight." We always knew that Hamill was going to play a role in Episode IX, likely a key one, but I don't think many were expecting for Lucasfilm to include the character in the very first trailer for the movie. It's well-pitched, though. His narration explains how the torch has been passed from him to Rey and, as the last Jedi, it's now up to her to end the reign of the dark side, just as it was once up to him in his younger days. Presumably, this is the voice of Luke's Force ghost, visiting Rey to impart some wisdom and words of encouragement just as Luke's own master Obi-Wan appeared to him following his death in the Original Trilogy. Unless, of course, Abrams has really gone to town on retconning TLJ and is about to resurrect Luke properly. Which, I suppose, we can't rule out, given that title. Rey's Becoming One With The Force As if Luke's voiceover wasn't cool enough, the scene it plays over is an epic display of how amazing Rey is. If Luke's words didn't make it clear, Rey is the new Chosen One and the hero set to save the day. As the tagline puts it, "every generation has a legend." We've seen Anakin's story and Luke's, but now it's time to see how Rey's ends. After her breathing slows and she gets in control, Rey whips out her lightsaber - Luke's blue one, apparently fixed since TLJ destroyed it - and readies herself for the TIE silencer coming towards her. At the right moment, she shows Neo from The Matrix how it's done and leaps and twists in the air. We don't see what happens next, but we can assume she sticks the landing and heads for the pilot inside. Obviously, this is the most powerful we've seen the character. Though she's always had a strong connection to it, she's much more at one with the Force in this clip than she was in TLJ. But who's she battling here? The black gloves heavily suggest this is Kylo Ren. An intriguing theory going around on social media though is that maybe Kylo isn't attacking Rey but training her - proof that he switches back to the light. I don't know about that but, if it is Kylo, he could be testing his frenemy to see what she's capable of. Kylo Ren On The Rampage Speaking of Kylo, he makes his debut in the trailer at the 1:15 mark as we see him going on a rampage. In a red-tinted forest, the new Supreme Leader of the First Order viciously takes down a cloaked figure in his way with a Stormtrooper standing to the side. As ever, the corrupted son of Leia and Han is not someone to mess with. The next clip sees Kylo busy at work repairing his helmet, which he smashed himself in The Last Jedi. After Snoke mocked him for hiding behind it, Ren destroyed it in a fit of rage. The loss of it symbolized his wavering loyalty to the dark side in the movie. However, seeing as he seemingly cemented his allegiance by the end of that film, it makes sense that he would repair his mask as he resumes his place as the successor to his grandfather Darth Vader's legacy. The question of whether he'll switch sides again, though, is one that fans can't agree on. The saga's history would dictate that he will, but time will tell whether this Skywalker will rise or not (more on that later). Lando's Flying The Falcon Again The producers have made no secret of the fact that Rise of Skywalker will see the long-awaited return of Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. Though many of the stars of the Original Trilogy have already returned in the past two films, they've saved Lando until now. So, when he makes his thrilling debut in this trailer, it really has an impact. And where else does he appear first but in the Millennium Falcon, piloting the ship alongside Chewbacca. The delight on Lando's face as he takes the vessel through warp-speed mirrors the expression on the face of the fans watching this scene for the first time. No doubt Lando misses his old pal Han, but it's clear that he's happy to be back in the cockpit of the ship that used to be his. As we recently saw depicted in Solo, Han won it off him in a game of Sabacc, after all. We don't know exactly what role he'll play in the movie, but it seems like there's a good chance that we could be meeting another member of the Calrissian clan as well. Naomi Ackie is joining the franchise as Jannah. When asked at the Episode IX panel if she was playing Lando's daughter, Ackie said: "“Lando is a very charming man. He could have daughters everywhere!” A Familiar Medal From this point on, things get really nostalgic as the trailer throws a lot of familiar stuff at us we weren't expecting. First up, one brief shot sees what we can infer to be Leia's hand holding a golden medal. Fans should recognize this as one of the medals given to Luke and Han by Leia herself after the Battle of Yavin in A New Hope. We don't know the context of this scene, but the callback to the saga's first film is a perfect way to bring the franchise full circle and to show how much Leia's life has changed since the day she presented these medals to her brother and the man she would go on to have a son with. At the same time, it's also a symbol of hope. If her generation managed to defeat evil against unimaginable odds and earn this trinket then the next generation of freedom fighters can do the same. Or maybe it's just a nostalgic shot of an old prop and I'm reading too much into it? Leia Returns Immediately after this shot, we get our first look at Carrie Fisher in the trailer. Standing in a lush forest, Leia and Rey share a fond embrace. As Leia holds onto Rey tightly, the latter sheds a tear. If this wasn't enough to get us at home shedding buckets of our own tears, Luke resumes his voiceover, saying: "We will always be with you. No one's ever really gone." The second line, of course, is a repeat of what Luke said to Leia when he Force-projected to Crait and handed her back Han's golden dice from the Falcon. Now, it refers to himself and, to the audience, Fisher and how this will be her final film. It's also important to note the use of "we" in the first sentence, though. Assuming this voiceover is still addressed to Rey, who else is Luke talking about? Is he still referring to the many Jedi that have come before her? Possibly, but maybe he's hinting that Leia will also pass away in the film. The Remains Of The Death Star Following this, there's an awesome team shot showing Chewie, Beebee, Dio, Threepio, Rey, Poe and Finn on a grassy hill. We then see what they're looking at: very probably the remains of the Death Star II, meaning this must be Endor! It makes sense for Rise of Skywalker to callback to Return of the Jedi. After all, The Force Awakens heavily borrowed from A New Hope while Last Jedi, though it took its own path, still recalled Empire Strikes Back - not least with Yoda's cameo appearance. Plus, the Disney Star Wars movies have always been obsessed with the Death Star, from TFA's Starkiller Base to Rogue One's retelling of the first model's origins. If the team really is on Endor, it shows Leia's earlier scenes in a new light - the woods around her and Rey could be the forests of Endor. This is understandably getting fans excited for a return of the Ewoks. If that's the case, Kylo Ren and his forces might want to tread carefully after what these little critters did to his grandpa's army in Episode VI. Revisiting the wreckage of the Death Star also tees up nicely with the shock return of a familiar face (well, voice at this stage) who was last seen on the planet-sized weapon. The Emperor's Laugh Following that bombshell comes an even bigger one. As the trailer fades to black, a disturbing cackle is heard. Cue the sound of every fan's jaw hitting the floor. You no doubt recognized this as the laugh of Emperor Palpatine. But is this really the case? You betcha. After the trailer debuted at the Episode IX panel and the lights came back on, Ian McDiarmid was revealed to be on the stage. Resurrecting his Darth Sidious voice, he said: "Roll it again" to the cheers of the crowd. Yes, the Emperor is back. There've long been theories that Palpatine would return in the Sequel Trilogy, maybe in connection with Snoke - his effective replacement in the past two movies. With Snoke having been murdered by his former protege though - much like Palpatine - in TLJ, it seems the Emperor will reappear to prove that he's the ultimate evil in the galaxy. So, how could he be back when Vader threw him into the Death Star's core in Return of the Jedi? Well, the most likely option is that he'll reappear as a Force ghost. If the gang are visiting the ruins of the weapon, his final resting place, it makes sense that it could be depicted as a kind of haunted house with his spirit haunting the heroes. Alternatively, maybe Abrams is pulling from the Legends stories and resurrecting the Emperor for real? In the old expanded universe books, Palpatine was revealed to have transferred his consciousness into a clone body. Solo recently also drew from this material when revealing that Maul was still alive. Could Lucasfilm repeat the trick with Sidious? The Rise Of Skywalker Yes, the biggest reveal of the Episode IX trailer has to be that the much-discussed title is, in fact, The Rise of Skywalker. Much like The Last Jedi before it, fans are already busy theorizing what it could refer to as it's a title with a lot of potential different interpretations. So, which Skywalker is going to rise? Well, there are two still around, as per the end of The Last Jedi. Leia herself and Kylo Ren AKA Ben Solo. Given Fisher's sad passing, we can presumably rule the Resistance general out. Ben, meanwhile, sees himself as the champion of the Skywalker's darker legacy, but he could well redeem himself and the title could refer to him. Alternatively, it could be Luke, a hint that he's not really dead and will get a much happier ending this time around to appease fans offended by his arc in TLJ. But we know what most people are thinking. Given the trailer's insistence that Rey is the true hero of this story, the title must be talking about her. Thereby teasing that she'll be revealed as a secret other member of the Skywalker family tree in the movie. Even after TLJ saw Kylo tell Rey her parents were unimportant, fans won't rest on this topic. Rian Johnson did say that Abrams is welcome to retcon this explanation if he wants, though, so that's a possibility. Whoever it specifically refers to, the title represents the fact that Episode IX will be the final installment in the Skywalker saga that we've been watching unfold for 40 years. As such, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a lot to live up to but, as ever with this franchise, this was one heck of an exciting trailer.