When Lucasfilm’s Sequel Trilogy is all finished up and the hype has finally cooled around Star Wars: Episode IX, it’ll be interesting to see how The Last Jedi is viewed in retrospect, whether the consensus will hold it as the Empire Strikes Back-style dark heart of the trilogy or a unique and divisive tangent in ‘The J.J. Abrams Saga.’
Indeed, we’ve been getting quite a few reports in recent months that Abrams will be bringing back elements from The Force Awakens that Rian Johnson largely ignored in his own installment, be it the return of Kylo Ren’s mask, or even the return of the filmmaker’s original vision for the identity of Rey’s parents. Granted, some of these rumors are more plausible than others, but while there’s no official confirmation for this new claim that the Knights of Ren will finally be making a proper appearance in next year’s film, it’s certainly not the most out-there suggestion we’ve heard for the flick.
A user on Reddit has claimed to have seen a marketing presentation from Disney, and when asked if they saw any indication that the knights would be showing up, the leaker responded as follows:
“Yes! I totally forgot about them but they will definitely be in the next movie… They did show numerous pictures/artwork of them. I wish I had more details but at the very least it seems like they will play a bigger role than previous films. While I’m a Star Wars fan, I’m not a superfan like many of you so a lot of names/details/places probably were wasted on someone like me.”
Of course, with all the alleged Episode IX leaks coming our way these days, this could well be just another fake, but seeing how Abrams was the one to conceive of the Knights of Ren in The Force Awakens, it would only figure if he wanted to give some screen time to these threatening figures.
In any case, the subversive twists of The Last Jedi have left Abrams in the curious position of having to continue the story that Johnson left for him while presumably incorporating elements from his original vision for the saga, and we’ll find out how he pulls this off when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.