With the conclusion of the beloved Star Wars franchise but a few months away. Fans old and new are dying to know what to expect. Director J.J. Abrams has been known for maintaining a high level of secrecy behind his films..
So while fans were anticipating a new sneak peak Episode IX trailer during this weekends D23 event (Disney's biennial fan exhibition).. they were NOT expecting to be privy to the reveal that was dropped at the end of the 2 mins teaser.. and neither were cast members, apparently..
D23 is a weekend long event in Anaheim, CA that is traditionally used to showcase the hottest up-and-coming projects in development for the House of Mouse.. Only one teaser trailer has been released for the blockbuster Star Wars finale film, and that was a short one back in April. Usually, Lucas Arts waits until sometime in October to unveil the official trailer for their films, but lately it has dropped sizzle-reels for its projects like Rogue One and The Last Jedi in D23.
So, this year Star Wars fans had their fingers crossed that J.J. might drop a few crumbs for them to salivate over until the October trailer hits. It looks like the magician director had his finger on the pulse though, because not only did he throw fans a bone, he dropped a bomb..
The two-minute reel starts off as sort of a tribute to the history of all the films in the series.. starting with shots of a young Mark Hamil, as a green Jedi apprentice in A New Hope, before interspersing clips showing his transformation to jedi master, daddy issues and all.. we then take a short sojourn into Anakin's backstory with the forgettable prequels, before jumping forward to scenes with Rey and Co. from the Force Awakens.
J.J. seems to ignore anything from the penultimate flim, The Last Jedi, instead he weaves in tons of new snippets and goodies from his upcoming swan song. Scenes like a massive fleet of Star Destroyers appearing from hyperspace. Poe and friends looking exasperated. An Epic lightsaber battle between Kylo Ren and Rey atop a destroyed ship being rocked by tempest winds and smashed with waves looks to be the crowning jaw-dropping moment of the teaser.. It's even the focus of the new Rise of Skywalker poster:
[Emperor Palpatine return confirmed..] src
Palpatine's voice is heard over the battle saying "Your Journey... Nears its end.." before the shot fades to black.. then the iconic Darth Vader exhale is heard through his mask.. and we hear the sound of a lightsaber engaging..
a one-second shot of new footage is shown, and oh boy, is it.. well.. it's better if you just see it for yourself:
Yeah.. All I can say is:
Are you pumped yet? The final Star Wars film hits theaters this December!