- Disney showed brand new footage of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” during a Saturday morning panel at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California.
- The video teased the presence of Emperor Palpatine, and an epic fight between Kylo Ren and Rey on top of a ship.
- We also saw Rey hooded in a dark robe, and holding a double-bladed red lightsaber which unfolded to resemble Darth Maul’s iconic weapon.
- This could be a vision, but fans were extremely hyped by the footage regardless of its meaning.
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Director J.J. Abrams showed off new footage of the coming “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” movie to a crowd of hyped fans during a Saturday morning panel at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. Screams were drawn from the crowd when Rey was shown wearing dark hooded robes and holding a double-bladed lightsaber similar to Darth Maul’s iconic weapon.
Read more: New ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ poster debuts at Disney’s D23 Expo
Insider was there to see the new peek at what’s in store for Rey, Finn, Poe, and the Resistance as they face off against Kylo Ren and the First Order for the final movie in the nine-part Skywalker saga.
Everything we spotted in the new ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ footage
The video started with a retrospect on the whole series, highlighting Luke, Leia, and Han’s journeys while also showing the original movie’s villains like Darth Maul and Emperor Palpatine alongside Darth Vader.
Then it transitioned into the newest trilogy, eventually showing glimpses of the new planets and characters we'll see in "The Rise of Skywalker."
Rey, Finn, Poe, C-3PO, and others were shown on the desert planet teased in the first trailer for the movie. They appeared to be overlooking a small village with colorful flags dotting buildings.
See more: Watch the first released teaser trailer for 'The Rise of Skywalker' here
Next there were shots of the various fleets, including a foreboding lineup of dozens of star destroyers lined up in the sky like soldiers. Kylo Ren is leading the First Order, and he and Rey will clearly clash as the fight comes to a head. They're shown fighting one-on-one atop what looked like a half-sunken spaceship sitting in a bay of choppy water, like a stormy sea.
We think it looks similar to the setting we saw in the first trailer, when the Resistance heroes walked towards a partially submerged (and fully destroyed) Death Star.
The fight between Rey and Kylo shown in the new video is reflected on the newly revealed official poster for "The Rise of Skywalker," which you can see below.
And speaking of the poster, Emperor Palpatine's indelible laugh once again made an appearance in the background of the new footage. We also heard the signature masked-breaths of Darth Vader.
Then, at the very end, Rey is shown standing in what might be a snowy forest - not unlike the setting of her first fight with Kylo Ren. She was wearing a dark set of hooded robes, and holding a red lightsaber with two parallel blades. But then the blades unfolded, setting the lightsaber in the kind of shape we've seen before with Darth Maul in the prequels.
Read more: 14 details you may have missed in the first 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' teaser trailer
Is Rey turning to the dark side? Or is this a vision someone else is seeing? Will she get a new lightsaber? Or are all the past villains of the "Star Wars" universe simply going to have an ominous background presence in the new fight between the dark and light sides?
We don't have answers yet, but all will be revealed when "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" premiere this December.
