Here's Everything We Learned About "Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker" At Star Wars Celebration

Not such a long time ago in a convention center in Chicago...

This week BuzzFeed attended the "Star Wars: Episode IX" panel at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago. The panel, which was hosted by Stephen Colbert, was stacked with some of the stars from the film, and they gave up quite a few ~juicy tidbits~. Here's just a bit of what we learned:

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1. The creative minds behind The Rise of Skywalker view Episode 7, 8, and 9 as the "third act of a three act play," confirming that this will be the last film in THIS series after over 40 years.

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The "third act" sentiment was a running theme throughout the panel and was repeated over and over again by both the film's director, JJ Abrams, and the president of LucasFilm, Kathleen Kennedy, when asked about the film's significance. They made it very clear that this is, in fact, the END of this particular story in the Star Wars canon.

2. The original The Force Awakens gang will all be back together again on-screen.

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While The Last Jedi saw Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac) separated for most of the film, they did all end up together at the end, and Abrams noted that the group would be on-screen together for most of this film. "This is an adventure that the group goes on TOGETHER," Abrams said. "One of the best parts of working on this movie is the dynamic between the characters, and that's the thing I'm the most excited for everyone to see."

3. There will be a significant time jump between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

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Time jumps are a pretty standard part of Star Wars films (think of the 10 years between Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones), but The Last Jedi took place mere SECONDS after The Force Awakens ended. However, when asked if that would be the case for The Rise of Skywalker, Abrams confirmed that the final entry in the franchise will NOT follow that formula, taking place "some time" after The Last Jedi ends.

4. Naomi Ackie is the newest member of the group and plays a never-before-seen character named Jannah, who is heavily rumored to be Lando Calrissian's daughter.

Star Wars Stuff @starwarstuff

First look at Naomi Ackie's character 'Jannah' in #IX! #SWCC

04:44 PM - 12 Apr 2019

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However, when directly asked to confirm those rumors, Ackie responded by saying, "Listen...Lando, he's a very charming man. He could have children all over the universe, that's all I'm saying!" TBH, I'm obsessed with her already.

5. Precious beloved baby droid BB-8 will be getting a new best friend in the form of an equally precious droid named D-O.

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"In this movie, BB-8 has a new friend...want to meet him?" Abrams said before D-O rolled out to make their very first appearance on stage. BB-8 was VERY excited to see them. Perhaps D-O will be BB-8's new companion, maybe even the C-3PO to his R2-D2?

6. Carrie Fisher WILL appear in the film. They will be using leftover footage from The Force Awakens, NOT CGI.

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"You don't recast that part, you don't suddenly have her disappear, and a CGI character was off the table," Abrams said. "The miracle of having scenes from The Force Awakens that went unused, we started to realize there was actually a way to use those scenes to continue her story."

7. There will be no shirtless Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) this time around, sorry y'all.

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"Let's sell some tickets right NOW," Colbert joked, before outright asking Ridley if she could confirm or deny the appearance of more skin from Kylo Ren. "I think I can confirm this...there are no more semi-naked Kylos," Ridley said. The crowd then proceeded to fully groan. The disappointment in the room was palpable, y'all.

8. Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) is, according to Boyega, 100% dead.

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Captain Phasma appears to die a fiery death during the climactic ending fight in The Last Jedi but, as anyone familiar with movie rules knows, someone's not officially dead unless you SEE them die. This lead Colbert to directly ask Boyega whether or not she appears in the film. "She's gone, old news, rest in peace," Boyega said without pause. "Phasma, yeah...she's dead."

9. There will be A LOT of new creatures in this film and, similarly to The Force Awakens, they opted for mostly practical effects when it came to creature creation.

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"When we did The Force Awakens, I really didn't think we'd be able to top ourselves with creature creation but, once you see this film, you'll see that their team really did it," Abrams said. "There's a fun new character who just...appears. His name is Klaud. He's a friend of the Resistance and it turns out that Chewie brought him in."

10. Rey will have new Force powers that we haven't seen yet.

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Fans of the series were thrown for an absolutely wild loop when they discovered Luke Skywalker's ability to force-project. When asked if Rey could do the same, Abrams said, "I'll say this: There are some extraordinary things that the character does in this movie...anyway, yes. There are some new things you'll see."

11. And finally, Boyega and Isaac are the only two people on this planet who ship their characters harder than we all do.

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It's been a long-standing hope among some fans of the series that Finn and Poe would end up in a romantic relationship. Well, when Colbert went to ask a question about Finn, Rey, and Rose's "love triangle," Boyega made sure to let Colbert know he'd left someone out. "If you could add Poe in there, as well," Boyega said, interrupting Colbert while the crowd cheered. "It's complicated," Isaac added, to which Boyega said, "It's a love pentagon, man."