The latest image to emerge from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is light on action, heavy on lens flare. This is a J.J. Abrams production, after all.
Coming to us by way of Fandango (h/t ComicBook.com), below you’ll see Daisy Ridley’s Rey ready to confront… something. Or someone. Chances are the Resistance fighter is preparing for one final showdown with Kylo Ren, or, failing that, an encounter with Emperor Palpatine himself, who has somehow cheated death and been reinstated as the franchise’s über-villain. At the expense of Supreme Leader Snoke, no less.
Andy Serkis’ scarred baddie was unceremoniously bumped off in The Last Jedi, leaving a power vacuum in his wake. It wasn’t long before Kylo Ren assumed the title of Supreme Leader, and from Episode IX‘s trailers, we know Adam Driver’s prince of darkness will have more than one battle with Rey come December 20th, so there’s every chance Fandango’s photo is captured moments before a big lightsaber duel.
Pretty cool, no? Whether it’s Star Trek Into Darkness or his Spielbergian passion project Super 8, Abrams is partial to a lens flare or two, and this one perfectly amplifies what will no doubt be a dramatic scene involving Rey and her off-screen enemy.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens big on December 20th. How big, you ask? Box office analysts predict an opening weekend in the region of $200 million. It’s not quite on par with The Force Awakens, nor does it match the $220M debut of The Last Jedi. Then again, this is nothing more than an early estimate at this stage, so those figures are subject to change as we approach D-day and the grand unveiling of Episode IX.
