The Star Wars franchise is arguably the biggest in the filmmaking world, spanning decades of filmmaking. It's a property that has been passed down from generation to generation, resulting in an army of dedicated fans. The nine-film main narrative will come to a close with The Rise of Skywalker, set to arrive in theaters in a matter of months.
J.J. Abrams is back behind the camera for Episode IX, completing the story he began with The Force Awakens. The pressure is on to bring the Skywalker Saga to a close forever, and smart money says the director has some plot twists up his sleeve once The Rise of Skywalker is released this Holiday Season. Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo recently teased the myriad twist that are coming with the highly anticipated blockbuster, tweeting out:
Does anyone else have chills? It looks like The Rise of Skywalker will contain plenty of surprising moments for the fans. And considering how many plot twists have happened throughout the course of the Star Wars franchise, it makes sense that the finale would go out with a particular bang.
Joonas Suotamo posted a response to an IMDB tweet, polling followers about their favorite unexpected theatrical moment. It's during that thread which the Chewbacca actor decided to do some freelance marketing for The Rise of Skywalker, and give a quick plug for the upcoming sequel. It looks like Episode IX will keep moviegoers on their toes, which should probably be expected given The Emperor's unexpected laugh at the end of the first trailer.
The Star Wars franchise has always been one that relied one big plot twists. Obviously the most infamous is Darth Vader revealing himself as Luke's father in Empire Strikes Back. But major twists have been present in basically every installment in the franchise-- especially Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. But the twists will arguably carry more weight for The Rise of Skywalker, as it will complete the nine-film narrative of the main franchise.
J.J. Abrams has the pressure of finding a conclusion for George Lucas' beloved space opera, which is no easy task. And considering that the fandom has seemingly gotten more jaded about the franchise following The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story, moviegoers are going to have some trepidation about whatever ending Abrams brings to theaters.
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It should be interesting to see what twists Joonas Suotamo is referencing once The Rise of Skywalker is released. It seems like anything could happen in the highly anticipated sequel, with the new heroes united for one last adventure. Suotamo has already seen his fair share of unexpected Star Wars plot points, as Episode IX marks his fourth movie playing Chewbacca. He follows in the late Peter Mayhew's footsteps, and worked with him on The Force Awakens.
Narratively, there is a ton of material for J.J. Abrams to mine from for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As such, there will be plenty of opportunities for the director to shock moviegoers with unexpected plot twists. The sky's the limit, and the galaxy has more than one sky to explore.
First and foremost, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker should be the final battle between the Resistance and the First Order. These two forces have been clashing throughout the sequel trilogy, and Episode IX should bring that conflict to an end. With Adam Driver's Kylo Ren as the new Supreme Leader, the dark side of The Force now seems completely linked with his psyche, and the shred of humanity that Rey still believes is inside of him.
The quest for Kylo Ren's soul may relate to Carrie Fisher's General Leia. Fisher is making her final appearance as the character thanks to unused footage from the previous two movies, yet another monumental challenge for J.J. Abrams to mount throughout his second Star Wars blockbuster. Especially because the character was supposed to have a major presence before Fisher's untimely death.
The Rise of Skywalker should also spend plenty of time with Daisy Ridley's signature character, as Rey is the hero and protagonist of the current trilogy. Fans are eager to see if Rey and Kylo's conversation about her parents in The Last Jedi was true, and if she really came from a pair of nobodies. Rey's parentage was highly theorized ahead of The Last Jedi, although Rian Johnson purposefully subverted fan expectations by unceremoniously destroying al those fan theories.
Related: Star Wars: Episode 9 - What We Know So Far About The Rise Of Skywalker
Additionally, the upcoming Star Wars sequel will feature the return of Billy Dee Williams' Lando Calrissian. Lando was noticeably absent throughout the first two movies in the current trilogy, without even being mentioned by his friends. So when he made his debut in The Rise of Skywalker's first trailer, it made long standing fans of the franchise very excited. And the timing makes sense, as Donald Glover recently played a young Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Also listed in the cast for The Rise of Skywalker is Mark Hamill, despite Luke's apparent death at the end of The Last Jedi. Luke's voice was heard narrating the first trailer for Episode IX, and moviegoers are eager to see exactly how the franchise's OG hero will factor into this final story. The most logical assumption is that Luke will be a Force Ghost who will continue mentoring Rey and/or Kylo, although Joonas Suotamo's comments about surprises might tease that things won't go down the way we'd assume.
The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi might have been fairly capsulated stories, but it seems like things are going to get much bigger in scale for The Rise of Skywalker. The new heroes will finally be together on this adventure, after being kept largely apart in the first two flicks (seriously, Poe only met Rey for the first time during The Last Jedi's final moments). Add in the pressure of wrapping up the entire Star Wars franchise as we know it, and it's clear that the next blockbuster will be bigger and badder than anything we've seen recently.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will hit theaters on December 20th. In the meantime check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
