Star Wars Celebration 2019 has come and gone, but it sure did leave fans with a lot of new nuggets about the upcoming ‘Episode IX’ to ponder for the months ahead. Not only did Kathleen Kennedy and filmmaker J.J. Abrams reveal the title (‘The Rise of Skywalker’) but a teaser trailer was also unveiled, satiating the rabid fanbase. But there was an overall feeling during the ‘Skywalker’ panel that this latest “Star Wars” saga episode would be a return to form for the series after Rian Johnson’s previous entry subverted many fans’ expectations, for better or worse.
READ MORE: ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’ Teaser: The Final Saga Film Is ‘The Rise Of Skywalker’
And in a new interview with IGN, Abrams discussed one of the ways that Lucasfilm and the upcoming ninth film in the series should be seen as a welcome addition to those that were perhaps upset by Johnson’s ‘The Last Jedi.’ Namely, the ‘Skywalker’ director invoked the holiest of “Star Wars” names – George Lucas.
“This movie had a very, very specific challenge, which was to take eight films and give an ending to three trilogies, and so we had to look at, what is the bigger story?” Abrams said. “We had conversations amongst ourselves, we met with George Lucas before writing the script.”
He added, “These were things that were in real, not debate, but looking at the vastness of the story and trying to figure out, what is the way to conclude this? But it has to work on its own as a movie, it has to be its own thing, it has to be surprising and funny and you have to understand it.”
That’s right, after fans were polarized by ‘The Last Jedi,’ with many long-time fans vowing to give up on the series as a whole unless Disney righted the wrongs of the film, it appears that Lucasfilm is going back to the man who created it all to help bring the end of the Skywalker Saga. And for fans of what Rian Johnson did with the last film, it appears that the new trilogy is going to end with a more “back to basics” approach to “Star Wars,” in more ways than one.
As you are no doubt aware, the teaser for ‘Rise of Skywalker’ ended with the familiar cackle of Emporer Palpatine, the big bad of the first two trilogies, signaling the unlikely (last we saw, he very much died) return of the most evil of evil villains in the “Star Wars” films. While many saw this as yet another nail in the Rian Johnson/”The Last Jedi’ coffin (“Who needs to bury the past? We’re going to bring back Palpatine! That’ll show ya!”), Kathleen Kennedy reveals that the return of the Emporer was something that was discussed all along.
Obviously, she was very opaque about any specific details, but she revealed that it was only a matter of time before the bad guy resurfaced in the new trilogy. Kennedy revealed to Yahoo, “We had not landed on exactly how we might do that, but it was always [to be in ‘Rise of Skywalker’].”
Perhaps, we’re wrong about what to expect with ‘Skywalker.’ Maybe Kennedy and Abrams are continuing the legacy of Johnson by subverting fan expectations even more in the latest film. But after the teaser, the panel, and the subsequent interviews, it would seem as if the real, underlying purpose of ‘Rise of Skywalker’ isn’t to end the Skywalker Saga, but instead, earn back the trust of those fans that were upset over the last year and a half.
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” hits theaters on December 20.
