December 20, 2019 is still a few months away, but that does nothing to calm the hype around Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker. To get ready, we’re going to go over five facts about the new movie, as well as five facts that would have changed everything we know and love about the Star Wars franchise!
The Gang is All Here
How can we watch Star Wars without the late Carrie Fisher? According to Lucasfilm, Leia’s story would be concluded using unused footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Even later news suggests that this will be paired with acting from her very own daughter, Billie Lourd.
But Leia isn’t the only one brought back. It is confirmed that Darth Vader, Luke (Mark Hamill), and the Emperor are all returning. It’s a big old family reunion!
Trust Him, He’s the Doctor
Although he isn’t going to play the biggest new role in the film, word is, Matt Smith will be a fan favorite in the new Star Wars film. Yes, that is “the” 11th Doctor Matt Smith. While Matt Smith himself has denied that he will be in the new film, Disney let the word slip a few times already.
Nine Years Later?
In a galaxy far, far away…just nine years after The Last Jedi, Rise of the Skywalker takes place. Or at least, that’s what we keep hearing. The truth is, the trailer makes it look like it’s been just a year or two, and the cast is staying mum about that bit of info. It’s hard to say if we want a direct sequel, or a decade of a time jump to show us how much has changed.
Rey’s Family
In the Last Jedi, Rey was told that her parents were “nobody” and as Luke is very much somebody, we assume that she is no Skywalker. But with her being the main character, it kind of suggests that the “rise of the Skywalker” is referring to her. However, that would be much too obvious, and redundant. But even if she isn’t a Skywalker, we’ll no doubt hear more about “nobody” in this next installment.
That Title Though
Can we skip back to that title again? They can’t be referring to the return of Luke, can they? Who is this Skywalker? According to The Last Jedi, it’s not Kylo and it’s not Rey. So, who is it? Most people think that it’s no longer a family name…but the name of legends. A title bestowed upon a Jedi who enacts change in the world. “Asgard’s not a place, it’s people.”
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Lucy, I am Your Father
Now that we’ve spent a bit of time mulling Rise of the Skywalker over, let’s look at a few things that could have changed every single Star Wars movie, including the latest. For starters, in one of the very first drafts, Lucas has Luke as a girl. How different would the movies have been if this had stuck? Rey probably wouldn’t exist because her whole existence is to mix things up with a female protagonist. Perhaps if Luke were a girl, Rey would be a boy?
Monkey is Yoda?
Not only was Yoda almost a monkey, but he was almost played by a real-life monkey that was trained to hold his cane. So why didn’t they stick with this idea? They came to the conclusion that “the monkey’s just going to pull off the mask over and over again.” Now, that would have been something to watch play out in the newer movies.
The Old Switcheroo
In the original script, we see the same amount of deaths, but as to who dies…well, that changes. In The Last Jedi, Han Solo may have met his end, but as it turns out, that was supposed to happen in Return of the Jedi. He actually dies on the forest moon of Endor, trying to find a way to help with the destruction of the Death Star.
In his place, Obi-Wan lives. Chewbacca confirmed this a few years back as he shared the original script! That may have changed things even more than Han Solo living.
That Scroll
“The crawl is such a hard thing because you have to be careful that you’re not using too many words that people don’t understand. It’s like a poem,” Lucas said. “I showed the very first crawl to a bunch of friends of mine in the 1970s. It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each.”
What may be the simplest effect these days, was one of the most difficult when A New Hope was filmed. The crawl was filmed “by carefully placing 2-foot-wide die cut yellow letters over a 6-foot-long black paper background with a camera making a slow pass over them to mimic the crawl.”
You Can Watch Luke’s Audition
We have been told that Mark Hamill was paid $1,000 a week (plus 1% profits) to play Luke Skywalker. But was he even that good? Putting things into perspective, to this day you can watch his first audition! Something about old audition tapes make you feel like you’re right there back in the time the movies were filmed. You can feel Mark’s nervousness and can see a star in the making. Now…what if he hadn’t have gotten the role?