6 Bombshells We Learned About Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker from Vanity Fair

The ninth and final film in the series and the conclusion of three trilogies is set for release on December 20

By Corinne Heller May 22, 2019 2:08 PMTags

Don't be afraid, we feel it too. The reluctance to read spoilers about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

...You will remove these restraints, because these are gold, and they don't really give anything away...they'll just make the anticipation to see the film even greater.

On Wednesday, Vanity Fair released some juicy new info and behind-the-scenes images from the anticipated film, the ninth and final movie in the entire series and the conclusion of three trilogies spanning more than 40 years. And Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver each appear on separate covers, with gorgeous shots photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Ridley's in costume as Rey, wearing her new white Jedi outfit, while Driver appears as brooding as ever in Kylo Ren's dark robes.

The light and the dark, the yin and the yang. Oh, Reylos will be pleased. And even more when they find out what has been said about the characters.

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Here are six bombshells we learned from Vanity Fair's feature on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker:

1. Will They Or Won't They? "He had been forging this maybe-bond with Rey," Driver told Vanity Fair about his character, Kylo, "and it kind of ends with the question in the air: is he going to pursue that relationship, or when the door of her ship goes up, does that also close that camaraderie that they were maybe forming?"

A source close to the movie told the magazine that Kylo and Rey's Force-connection will turn out to run even deeper than we thought. 

And get ready for more explosive confrontations; A photo by Leibovitz shows the two having a lightsaber battle in a storm.

"I think there's a part of Rey that's like, dude, you f--king had it all, you had it all," Ridley said. "That was always a big question during filming: you had it all and you let it go."

2. Rey Is Ready: Sources told Vanity Fair that in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey will have progressed in her training to the point where it's almost complete.

3. Welcome Knights of Ren: The rumors are true: Kylo's Knights of Ren will finally arrive in Star Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerVanity Fair features a behind-the-scenes photo of them in the desert.

Not to be confused with Snoke's Elite Praetorian Guards seen in the throne room fight scene in the previous film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the mysterious Knights of Ren last appeared briefly in the vision Rey had on Takodana, in the first film in the new trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

4. The War Between Good and Evil: Sources close to the movie told Vanity Fair that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will finally bring to a climax the millennia-long conflict between the Jedi Order and the Sith.

In the first two trilogies, the major antagonist was Palpatine, aka Darth Sideous, a Sith Lord. It was revealed  last month that the character will make his return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

5. Keri Russell's Character Is Revealed: The actress, a newcomer to the Star Wars franchise, is playing the masked scoundrel Zorri Bliss, whose costume brings to mind that of the original trilogy's bounty hunter Boba Fett and the Attack of the Clones bounty hunter Zam Wesell.

6. Carrie Fisher Will Appear Onscreen Again With Her Daughter, Billie Lourd: The beloved actress who originated the role of Leia in the first trilogy and reprised her part in the latest two films passed away in 2016. Director J.J. Abrams revealed last year that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker would include unseen footage shot of her from Star Wars: The Force Awakens

He told Vanity Fair he started to write scenes around the old footage, fitting Leia's dialogue into new contexts, and re-created the lighting to match the way Fisher had been lit. He also said that he initially wrote Lourd, who plays a Resistance officer named Lieutenant Connix in the new trilogy, out of scenes with her mother. He said she wanted to be in them.

"And so, there are moments where they're talking; there are moments where they're touching," Abrams said. "There are moments in this movie where Carrie is there, and I really do feel there is an element of the uncanny, spiritual, you know, classic Carrie, that it would have happened this way, because somehow it worked. And I never thought it would."