A new Star Wars Rise of Skywalker trailer is here. Coming out of Disneys convention/conference D23, we get a "special look" or trailer. The first trailer was released in April, and teased some reunions and the Emperor.
The newest trailer gives us a tease of an evil Rey. The ultimate Star Wars trope going back to the original trilogy, specifically Return of the Jedi. The Emperor being "back" in some context, and Rey rocking some red lightsabers ensures the fanboys who love this repeatable model will show out in a big way.
The biggest takeaways from the trailer are the odes to previous movies, and the fateful battle between Kylo Ren and Rey on a battleship. My hope is that despite them obviously relying on nostalgia that they don't over-rely on it. Given that this is the culminating and final movie in the Skywalker saga, there is a chance they over do it.
The Rise of Skywalker will be a hit, but whether or not JJ Abrams overdoes the nostalgia is my biggest question. The Last Jedi was breathtaking and moved us towards a Skywalker-less future. The Rise of Skywalker may attempt to undo some of that in favor of Disney's stock price.
On December 20, we will get every answer we want. All I want is for the final battle between Rey and Kylo not to become the Anakin/Obi-Wan fight 2.0. A three hour CGI filled lightsaber battle that results in someone burning and Rey holding red lightsabers. But we all know JJ and Disney don't have the stones to end the series with an evil Rey. We can expect longing looks between Rey and every character in Star Wars history as we fade into black.