The “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” marketing has officially begun. Sure, we’re about seven months away from the film’s release, but we already have a trailer (released last month) and now a set visit that reveals even more details about the upcoming ‘Episode IX.’ And according to director J.J. Abrams, ‘Rise’ is very different than the eight previous films in the Skywalker Saga.
Vanity Fair did what it does best, with a deep dive into the new film, complete with beautiful pictures courtesy of famed photographer Annie Leibovitz. And because of the detailed look at the film, we are able to finally confirm some rumored facts about the film.
“That’s the challenge of this movie,” Abrams said. “It wasn’t just to make one film that as a stand-alone experience would be thrilling, and scary, and emotional, and funny, but one that if you were to watch all nine of the films, you’d feel like, Well, of course—that!”
He later added, “It felt slightly more renegade; it felt slightly more like, you know, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to do the thing that feels right because it does, not because it adheres to something.’”
First, the pictures and report confirm that the Knights of Ren are back. Yes, the characters hinted at in ‘The Force Awakens’ and all but forgotten in ‘The Last Jedi’ are going to be featured prominently in the new film. And as you can see in the picture, they share almost a samurai aesthetic, which adds an additional layer to their lore, as the elite soldiers that follow Kylo Ren.
READ MORE: Disney CEO Says New ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy From Benioff & Weiss Will Begin In 2022
We also got confirmation of who new actors Richard E. Grant and Keri Russell would play in the film. Grant, who was rumored to play General Thrawn, is actually going to play a new character named Allegiant General Pryde. And just because they’re both British and evil in the movie, and considering “Star Wars” has a penchant for bloodlines, it’s confirmed that Pryde is not related in any way to Hux. Sorry, if you got your hopes up for that reveal.
Russell, on the other hand, is confirmed to play the rogue-ish character Zorri Bliss, who probably has the coolest costume that we’ve seen in a while. Not much is known about her, but she figures to be the Boba Fett of the new film, in look and mysterious role.
And finally, we can confirm that Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker does, in fact, appear once again in the new film after literally disappearing at the end of ‘The Last Jedi.’ Is he a Force ghost? Did he not actually die? Is it just in flashbacks? We’ll have to wait and see. But the picture does reveal that he’s standing next to R2-D2, so take that for what it’s worth.
‘Rise of Skywalker’ hits theaters on December 20.
You can look at the new pictures from photographer Annie Leibovitz below:
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