Disney and Lucasfilm have released the final trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which promises to bring the long-running episodic saga to a close in spectacular fashion.
The trailer features some of the greatest hits from the Star Wars universe, including a massive space battle involving a fleet of Star Destroyers and a climactic lightsaber battle between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) atop the ruins of the second Death Star.
The trailer also includes more from Emperor Palpatine, the deceased(?) Sith Lord who was teased with merely a snippet of laughter at the end of the previous trailer.
He does not appear in the trailer, but he does speak.
Disney and Lucasfilm released the new trailer Monday night, shortly after tickets went on sale.
The trailer starts with shots of Rey running through the jungle, then through a ruined spacecraft while Finn (John Boyega) speaks about the Force in a voiceover.
“It’s an instinct, a feeling,” Finn says. “The Force brought us together.”
Poe Damaron (Oscar Isaac) then talks about rallying support from the “good people” of the galaxy.
“People keep telling me they know me. No one does,” Rey says. She is shown standing on a ruined piece of the Death Star in the middle of a choppy sea, her lightsaber in hand.
“But I do,” Kylo Ren says in a voiceover, as he emerges from the rain to face her.
Daisy Ridley is Rey and Adam Driver is Kylo Ren in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’
Disney/Lucasfilm
The trailer then cuts to a brief moment of sentiment with C-3PO, who takes “one last look” at his “friends” — the main cast of the film.
The second half of the trailer is a sizzle reel featuring various action scenes, including more lightsaber fighting, an image of an ominous throne and a spectacular shot of a Star Destroyer seemingly bursting through a sheet of ice.
The trailer also shows Rey and Kylo Ren destroying a black altar together, while Emperor Palpatine talks about them in a sinister voiceover.
“Long have I waited, and now your coming together … is your undoing,” Palpatine says.
Daisy Ridley is Rey in ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.’
Disney/Lucasfilm
The trailer ends with voiceovers from Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (the late Carrie Fisher).
“The Force will be with you, always,” they say.
Director J.J. Abrams will shepherd the final installment in the franchise he relaunched in 2015, after Disney bought Lucasfilm. Abrams directed The Force Awakens before handing the reins to Rian Johnson, who handled The Last Jedi in 2017.
Rise of Skywalker promises in the trailer that “the saga will end.”
However, Hamill himself poured cold water on that idea in a tweet earlier on Monday.
“‘Final’ Star Wars trailer?” he wrote. “I have 4+ billion reasons to think there will be more to come.”
The trailer triggered an outpouring of excitement from fans on Twitter, including The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson.
It also prompted fans to speculate about whether Rey and Kylo Ren might become allies — or something more — by the end.
Lucasfilm has also released the full movie poster online.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is directed by J.J. Abrams and produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Abrams and Michelle Rejwan. Callum Greene, Tommy Gormley and Jason McGatlin serve as executive producers. The film was written by J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio.
It will be released in theatres on December 19.
© 2019 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
