We finally have our first look at Star Wars: Episode IX, and it's glorious.
The first trailer for Episode IX, which has been formally dubbed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, was revealed during a panel at the Star Wars Celebration event in Chicago on Friday. Director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy presented fans with the title and trailer, along with The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, and newcomer Naomi Ackie.
According to Variety, Abrams explained that "some time has gone by" in the film and it won't take place immediately after the events of 2017's The Last Jedi. He also discussed how The Rise of Skywalker is expected to wrap up the Skywalker family saga, more than 40 years after the original Star Wars hit theaters.
"This movie, in addition to being the end of three trilogies, it also has to work as its own movie," Abrams said. "It's about this new generation and what they've inherited, the light and the dark, and asking the question as they face the greatest evil: are they prepared? Are they ready?"
The trailer itself shows Ridley's Rey in the desert before brief glimpses of Kylo Ren, Poe, and Finn flash by. Among the few big reveals in the trailer — including the first look at Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian — we hear the laughter of Palpatine, the villain played by Ian McDiarmid in the previous two trilogies who was thought to be dead. We can't wait to see what other surprises await when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres on Dec. 20.
