So this week, BuzzFeed attended the "Star Wars: Episode IX" panel at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, and the highlight was, easily, the reveal of the first teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
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Something ELSE is rising and it's my heart rate because LucasFilm is trying to kill me.
Along with a reveal of the title — which gave me goosebumps — we got to see some absolutely AMAZING footage from the final film in this beloved franchise. So please allow me to break it down shot-by-shot with WAAAY too much intensity:
We begin with Rey (Daisy Ridley) alone in a desert. What appears to be an intense-looking TIE fighter(?) is headed straight for her. Who's in that? Why are they playing chicken with Rey? LEAVE MY WIFE ALONE.
Also, the gloved hands we see piloting the fighter...is that Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)? Did he not learn from last time that Rey has zero interest in his shenanigans? Go away, sad boy.
Also incredibly important, we see Rey with Luke's original lightsaber, which split in two in The Last Jedi. Did Rey fix it???
The fighter misses Rey because she's a badass and the only human being that matters on this planet or any other, TBH.
And the whole beautiful scene is set to a voiceover by none other than Mr. Titular himself, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). While this monologue is new, we don't actually SEE Luke in the trailer. Will he appear as a force ghost? IDK!
Next we see a small ship flying through a blue-tinted planet, which looks like a full-on painting.
Then we see Kylo Trash Can Ren fighting people in a very on-brand looking forest. Someone please make an edit of this with Evanescence's "Bring Me To Life" playing in the background.
And then (someone) is repairing his mask — which he destroyed himself during one of his many meltdowns — because he's, like, obsessed with that thing.
Following that — I grudgingly admit — beautiful sequence is a nice shot of Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaacs) standing on what, frankly, looks like the Thunder Mountain ride at Disney World. Here for it. Also, is Finn holding Rey's staff?!
Then we get a nice look at BB-8 and his new droid buddy, "D-O." Take all of my money for their merchandise now, k thanx.
And just like that we're back home on the Millennium Falcon with her formative owner, Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), who looks more dashing than ever. He sits alongside the ultimate co-pilot, Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), who also looks quite dashing, if I do say so myself.
Next we see a bunch of ships fighting on the ground of what I assume is the same sand planet Rey was seen on earlier. Finn, C-3PO, and Poe fight to stay upright on the swerving ship.
And prepare your tissues, because then we see the hands of General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), holding what appears to be one of the medals she originally presented to Luke and Han (and, famously, NOT to Chewbacca, which is still kinda messed up) at the end of the original Star Wars.
Then Leia and Rey embrace, with Rey shedding a single tear, which is honestly super-composed compared to how hard I was sobbing at this point of the trailer.
And we get a shot of the whole original The Force Awakens gang standing together on a grassy planet, looking on to what appears to be...wait for it...
...THE REMNANTS OF THE DEATH STAR II, JUST CHILLING IN THE MIDDLE OF AN OCEAN?! Overhead, Luke's voiceover ominously claims, "No one's ever really gone."
The trailer then cuts to black and we hear, for the first time in the new trilogy, a trace of Darth Sidious in the form of his chill-inducing laugh.
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And finally, the title reveal: The Rise of Skywalker. Having attended the "Episode IX" panel myself, I can assure you, there was not ONE butt left in a chair. Everyone was on their feet, SCREAMING for this reveal. Iconic.
So yeah...there's an infinite amount of things to unpack here and if it was legally acceptable to marry a movie trailer, this would be the one for me. I love it. I love all of you. Please let me know if I missed anything in the comments!
