"No One's Ever Really Gone"

April 12, 2019 10:34 AM

The first trailer for Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker has been released (SLYT)
posted by New Frontier (292 comments total)

Well. This is happening.
That title is not inspiring and the trailer is meh. Not terrible, but nothing that screams MUST SEE
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:36 AM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

Eight months is too long to wait. Good trailer. Please don't have Rey by a Skywalker!
posted by dellsolace at 10:36 AM on April 12, 2019 [15 favorites]

I love the title, but thematically I'm curious how this will mesh with TLJ's "let the past die" thematic closure.

Also, did I miss Rose?
posted by Think_Long at 10:39 AM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

I'll watch this, but I'll be honest, I too have a very "meh" feeling and it's mostly because of Disney creating TOO much Star Wars in the last few years, it's a kind of burn out.

I'm more excited about the casting and filming of Denis Villeneuve's Dune remake.

I'll still watch this because I've watched the rest and I'm sure so many others will. That's what it feels like, a bit of going through the motions.
posted by Fizz at 10:39 AM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

LANDO
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:39 AM on April 12, 2019 [53 favorites]

GO FOR POPPA PALPATINE
posted by entropicamericana at 10:40 AM on April 12, 2019 [24 favorites]

I'm mostly going to go to the theatre to say goodbye to Carrie, because she deserves that respect and honor.
posted by Fizz at 10:41 AM on April 12, 2019 [41 favorites]

If we get to rehabilitate Lando/Billy Dee's legacy in the Star Wars canon, I am totally okay with that.
posted by darkstar at 10:42 AM on April 12, 2019 [15 favorites]

Also the Rey flip over the tie fighter has a shade of late-film Legolas extreme power-up to me.
posted by Think_Long at 10:45 AM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

Apparently the Star Wars movies will be taking a bit of a hiatus after this. I am not sad.

Not sure about this one yet (my crappy work computer isn't giving me sound, so my perspective might be wrong).

Worrying:
-the title implies, at least to me at this point, a return to the mythical status of the Skywalkers as the.most.important.family! which was something I was glad to see TLJ moving past.
-No Rose.

Encouraging:
-LANDO!
-A chance to say goodbye to Carrie, thanks to some unused footage
posted by nubs at 10:46 AM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

It’s amazing how all three sequel films have trailers that reuse the same visual elements, especially when it comes to the action set pieces.
posted by Apocryphon at 10:47 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Flying a TIE nap-of-the-earth is probably quite a stunt in itself. Presuming it's Kylo Ren at the controls of the TIE, it's clear he inherited his father's piloting talent.
posted by Gelatin at 10:47 AM on April 12, 2019

Does "no one's every really gone" now refer to the digital recreations of beloved and dearly departed actresses?

I look forward to seeing Carrie one last time, but I must admit it makes me a little uncomfortable.
posted by AstroCatCommander at 10:48 AM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

thematically I'm curious how this will mesh with TLJ's "let the past die" thematic closure.

Based on the oeuvre of JJ Abrams my expectation is that it will not.

Also, did I miss Rose?

Not sure if she's in the trailer but she's definitely in the movie; they had her on-stage at the hype event, and there's a promo still from one of her scenes.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:49 AM on April 12, 2019 [15 favorites]

The more of these that come out, the more I'm reminded that I'm mostly looking forward to blowing my kid's mind with watching the original trilogy with him. It is certainly a witness to their extreme quality and how ahead of their time they really were (when I was an infant), that with all the modern digital technology we have in this space, they are still a standard for what a true space sci-fi classic really is.
posted by allkindsoftime at 10:50 AM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

Well, the final shot overlooking the ruins of the Death Star II followed by Palpatine's laugh suggests Abrams has gone back to unused concepts from The Force Awakens, though what exactly they're after there I don't know - given that Kylo has already been to Endor and gotten Vader's mask at some point. The title seems bad, but unless they're really throwing The Last Jedi under the bus (possible!), It may mean that the name Skywalker becomes more of a legend or a title for Rey as the inheritor of Luke's legacy.
posted by timdiggerm at 10:50 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I look forward to seeing Carrie one last time, but I must admit it makes me a little uncomfortable.

This is not a digital recreation; it is unused footage from TFA that they found a way to work into the film.
posted by nubs at 10:51 AM on April 12, 2019 [24 favorites]

I'm invested enough in Rey that I here for her just kicking butt from minute 1, and hoping that the scene of her taking on that TIE interceptor/silencer is very early, definite memories of Luke coming in at the start of RotJ and doing all kinds of cool stuff he couldn't manage before. But man, this title. This title makes me think there will be a lot in this movie I'm not here for at all.

And a . for Carrie, I still teared up as soon as she was onscreen. The world is lesser for her absence.
posted by solotoro at 10:53 AM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

BILLY DEE
posted by duffell at 10:54 AM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

Agree 100% on "There had better be some goddamned Rose"
posted by duffell at 10:54 AM on April 12, 2019 [13 favorites]

It’s amazing how all three sequel films have trailers that reuse the same visual elements, especially when it comes to the action set pieces.

Three indistinguishable trailers for three unremarkable movies. Still gonna go see it though, for some reason
posted by dis_integration at 10:54 AM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

After the latest sub-par efforts I'd pretty much written the 'Wars off... but I honestly felt a pang of emotion there, deep in my blackened heart

Fully prepared to be disappointed with J. J. Abrams mystery box bollocks mind
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 10:55 AM on April 12, 2019

No one's every really gone.
The saga comes to an end.

What is meant to be emotional, just ends up being Disney churning out Star Wars movies for the rest of time.
posted by kokaku at 10:55 AM on April 12, 2019

i fully expect them to throw TLJ under the bus because fan pandering (service doesn't do it justice) wrapped up in continuity busting (st10) and unearned callbacks (star trek: into darkness) and predictable twists (ST:ID) is jj's thing and all the fragile little royalist fans were butthurt that rian expanded the sw galaxy beyond like, six people so
posted by entropicamericana at 10:56 AM on April 12, 2019 [16 favorites]

(and i say that as someone who actually really liked ST10)
posted by entropicamericana at 10:57 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Well, this fits the pattern of the previous "end of trilogy " titles: Revenge of the Sith, Return of the Jedi, Rise of Skywalker... but still they needed to find a word starting with "R" (And preferably "Re") with a more finalizing connotation...
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:57 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Flying a TIE nap-of-the-earth is probably quite a stunt in itself. Presuming it's Kylo Ren at the controls of the TIE, it's clear he inherited his father's piloting talent.

Kylo Ren's father is Chewbacca?!? It makes so much sense!
posted by BeeDo at 10:57 AM on April 12, 2019 [49 favorites]

YES PLEASE
NAO PLEASE
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:59 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I won't lie. I just watched this with my kid and ended up unexpectedly openly sobbing.

Seeing Rey make that jump. This is the Jedi I've wanted to see on screen since I was 9 years old. Plus The General. Plus Lando. "No one is ever really gone."

I look forward to seeing this in a theater of tiny Rey's and grown women like me, who never got to be tiny Reys, but always wanted to be.
posted by anastasiav at 11:02 AM on April 12, 2019 [76 favorites]

TLJ was the 3rd best film in the tri-trilogy thus far, much better than RotJ and very nearly as good as episodes IV and V. Super, super wary of JJ Abrams. I wish they'd brought Rian back for this one.
posted by duffell at 11:02 AM on April 12, 2019 [28 favorites]

Might be the worst name of a Star Wars movie, Attack of the Clones notwithstanding.
posted by sleeping bear at 11:03 AM on April 12, 2019

what is the Star Wars movie that had a good title
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:04 AM on April 12, 2019 [18 favorites]

The Empire Strikes Back
posted by wabbittwax at 11:05 AM on April 12, 2019 [28 favorites]

Speculation: What if the "Skywalker" in the title doesn't refer to the family per se, but is the name of the new post-Jedi order that Rey forges to bring balance to the Force? Like if they made another Star Wars trilogy set 10,000 years after this one, could "skywalker" just become the generic term for a Force-sensitive being?
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:05 AM on April 12, 2019 [30 favorites]

Star Wars
posted by ODiV at 11:05 AM on April 12, 2019 [13 favorites]

nubs: Apparently the Star Wars movies will be taking a bit of a hiatus after this. I am not sad.

Maybe they'll take that time to develop a new story line. You know, one without another frickin' Death Star (Den of Geek). Because we've seen the movie(s) and we know how it/they end.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for Star Wars, so my first viewing will be an emotional one. But they just don't hold up on re-watch, when you can look beyond the grit and/or sheen of distant planets and interstellar battles, and start looking for a compelling story line.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:05 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

My inner child is locked, loaded, and ready to go.
posted by a power-tie-wearing she-capitalist at 11:06 AM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

And so Star Wars joins the auspicious ranks of the colon-rise-of-the sequels alongside Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Transformers: Rise of the Fallen, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
posted by subocoyne at 11:06 AM on April 12, 2019 [14 favorites]

MEESA BEHIND IT ALL!!! WHOLE TIME!! WOOOWOOOWOOOWOOOWOOO
posted by Fizz at 11:07 AM on April 12, 2019 [61 favorites]

At least there's no Star Wars title that's "[Verb]ing [Name]" yet
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:08 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I do wonder if Rey will call her new resistance order "Skywalker" in Luke and Leia's honor. Would have preferred "Rise of THE Skywalker," turning it into a title rather than a surname.

But anyway. I liked Force Awakens well and loved Last Jedi so it's all head full.
posted by skullhead at 11:08 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

At least there's no Star Wars title that's "[Verb]ing [Name]" yet

Star Wars: Walking Sky
posted by pykrete jungle at 11:10 AM on April 12, 2019 [14 favorites]

They definitely should have let Rian Johnson make this one, but I'm still cautiously optimistic.

The true thematic through-line of TLJ was that people matter, and so do the stories they tell each other. Luke says "The Jedi must end!" near the start, but then Yoda burns down his stupid temple to show him that:

- Luke never actually believed that to begin with, or he wouldn't care about the temple
- By withdrawing from the world and obsessing over the past, he had abandoned the people he cared about and his duty to his student

And then TLJ ends with a bunch of kids reenacting his dramatic last stand against the First Order, one of whom (the one Finn and Rose interacted with earlier) turns out to have the ability to use Jedi-like Force powers. Because people matter and hope matters.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:11 AM on April 12, 2019 [38 favorites]

overlooking the ruins of the Death Star II

If they are going back to Endor, I'm really hoping there are no fucking Ewoks.

I liked Force Awakens well and loved Last Jedi so it's all head full.

I'm in the same place with regard to the last two movies, but I've got a bad feeling about this one.
posted by nubs at 11:12 AM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

I mean, I'm sure JJ will find a way to fuck it up, but still.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:12 AM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

Was that Palpatine laughing at the end?
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:13 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I predict that J.J. will render canonical the old fan theory of the DS2's destruction having caused enough collateral damage to wipe out the Ewok species.

And yeah, that HAD to be Palpatine. More Ian McDiarmid is A-OK in my book. He almost single-handedly made ROTS watchable.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 11:14 AM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Was that Palpatine laughing at the end?

*ahem*
posted by Fizz at 11:14 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

It's hard to know whether it's a good title without a sense of what's in the movie, but it doesn't make a great first impression. A better title might have been just "Rise." People would still hate it obviously because people hate everything.

Star Wars Episode IX: Rise. That's evocative. That's mysterious. I would have liked that. But whatever.

Rey's confrontation with the tie fighter does indeed look epic and I'm excited to see that play out. Overall, I'm excited to see this movie. I liked "The Last Jedi" and I thought it opened some amazing possibilities so I hope they're not going to undo that. My concern is that we're wrapping up a nine movie arc, hoping for a movie that ties up all the loose ends and gives a satisfying conclusion to this multi-generational saga, and the guy we're pinning our hopes on is the guy who made "Lost".
posted by wabbittwax at 11:14 AM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

On the one hand, this looks great; on the other, the screenwriter also wrote Batman vs. Superman and Justice League. Abrams is a good action director so I'm sure that it'll look good and move well but I'm wary of the story.
posted by octothorpe at 11:15 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I heard Palpatine laughing with delight the day the trailer dropped
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:15 AM on April 12, 2019 [21 favorites]

I do wonder if Rey will call her new resistance order "Skywalker" in Luke and Leia's honor. Would have preferred "Rise of THE Skywalker," turning it into a title rather than a surname.

Kylo Ren is also a Skywalker.
posted by anastasiav at 11:15 AM on April 12, 2019 [27 favorites]

Also announced today: a 2021 release date for “Star Wars: Epsiode X: Revenge of the Toxic Fanboys.”
posted by zooropa at 11:16 AM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

Who will be angry when the Star Wars trailer drops today, and why
posted by nubs at 11:17 AM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

it's mostly because of Disney creating TOO much Star Wars in the last few years, it's a kind of burn out

People say there's been too much Star Wars, and maybe that's true, but for me it's been too much middling, not well-thought out Star Wars. I thought Solo was completely forgettable, except for the stuff I remember because it made me mad. Rogue One had potential, but was disjointed. I was really frustrated with The Last Jedi. The Rey/Kylo Ren/Luke stuff was great, but not much else worked for me. I got tired of Poe making the stupidest possible decisions at every point. It's not that we had too much Star Wars, it's that too much of it doesn't really work.

We've had a lot more MCU than SW, and I will happily sit down for every MCU film they want to put in the theaters. And, sure, I'll go see Rise of Skywalker, but then I'm done.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 11:19 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm excited. Rey is the hero. I shrieked when I saw Lando. And oh boy, Palpatine at the end. I really don't want Rey to be a Skywalker, but I've been resolved to the possibility since the beginning.
posted by Mavri at 11:21 AM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

i fully expect them to throw TLJ under the bus

I mean, right there in the trailer you've got Kylo repairing his helmet (1:17), so that's a pretty major chunk of his character's growth in TLJ getting tossed. Doesn't seem promising for the rest of it, even without factoring in the title of the movie.

I'll still go see it just to watch Billy Dee Williams having fun if nothing else (and I'm sure there will be more of it that I will like). But I think the obvious lesson here is to have one person write an entire trilogy, not two people with completely different visions passing it back and forth and undercutting each other.
posted by mstokes650 at 11:22 AM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

I think there are three possibilities for the name:

1. Kylo Ren is already Skywalker and we see him rise to a powerful position such as Darth Vader or Luke had. Could be on the Dark side or the Light side.

2. We find out Rey's parents are dead or totally out of the picture somehow and she is adopted by Leia and becomes a Skywalker by adoption.

3. Or we find out that somehow that one of Rey's parents was of Skywalker lineage.
posted by Justin Case at 11:23 AM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

What if Rey becomes a Skywalker because Luke made her his heir, not an actual biological descendant but bearer of his legacy? I mean, why not?
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:23 AM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

4. She learns to literally walk on air
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 11:24 AM on April 12, 2019 [35 favorites]

Kylo Ren is also a Skywalker.
Sure, but only on his mother's side ;)
posted by skullhead at 11:24 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Leia ascends
posted by ODiV at 11:25 AM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

I heard Palpatine laughing with delight the day the trailer dropped

He was singin'
Bye, Bye little Skywalker spawn
Drove the Falcon to the halcyon but the halcyon was gone
posted by nubs at 11:27 AM on April 12, 2019 [20 favorites]

5. The Rise of Wildstone
posted by duffell at 11:28 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I like Star Wars. I liked this trailer because I like Star Wars. I like some Star Warses more than other Star Warses but they're silly fantasy movies so I try not to be too critical. My childhood has not been retroactively ruined. My parents took care of that.

Yay, Star Wars! I am looking forward to sitting down with a giant tub-o-popcorn and smiling my way through this silly fantasy movie.
posted by bondcliff at 11:29 AM on April 12, 2019 [76 favorites]

overlooking the ruins of the Death Star II

I'm pretty excited about the possibility of the old Death Star getting repaired. Then the last third of the movie could revolve around a small, plucky group of fighters somehow flying inside and destroying it!
posted by umber vowel at 11:29 AM on April 12, 2019 [12 favorites]

My theory is that Rey takes on the name Skywalker. Ben abandoned it, and his family. Rey is choosing to make the Skywalker name hers, actual genetic parentage be damned.
posted by SansPoint at 11:29 AM on April 12, 2019 [15 favorites]

I wonder if this will refer back to the theory that Palpatine created Anakin, and will reveal that he created Rey too. In that sense, she would be a Skywalker, but not related in a familial sense to Luke or Anakin.
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:30 AM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Star Wars IX: Regression to the Mean
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:30 AM on April 12, 2019 [38 favorites]

I actually yelled when I saw Billy Dee in this. :D
posted by Guy Smiley at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

That jump. Lando!Chewie. Kylo in beast mode. One last time for Leia. Deathstar! Palpatine!?!

My brain is 6 years old again.

> I too have a very "meh" feeling

Did you see that jump?
posted by bonehead at 11:34 AM on April 12, 2019 [17 favorites]

I mean, right there in the trailer you've got Kylo repairing his helmet (1:17)

Look again. Someone is repairing the helmet, but it is not Kylo. It is someone with long hair or fur on their hands.
posted by anastasiav at 11:35 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I like the "Star Wars."
posted by ColdChef at 11:35 AM on April 12, 2019 [12 favorites]

Sooo, looks like there will be Ewoks again?
posted by JamesBay at 11:36 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Just when I was hoping after The Last Jedi that Star Wars would finally transcend its greatest weakness: namely, the reduction of an entire galaxy of potential stories to a family soap opera. I fully expect JJ to cow to the toxic manbabies, but hope to be mistaken.
posted by tclark at 11:37 AM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

I'm 100% here for a feral ewok cult that venerates the wrathful spirit of Palpatine in the charred ruins of the second Death Star and in fact now I'll be really fucking disappointed if we don't get that
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:38 AM on April 12, 2019 [61 favorites]

I fully expect JJ to cow to the toxic manbabies, but hope to be mistaken.

Indeed, the fact that Rose is not on screen tells me just that.
posted by Fizz at 11:38 AM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

I fully expect JJ to cow to the toxic manbabies, but hope to be mistaken.

He works for Disney.
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:39 AM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

I've been so traumatized by JJAbrams story lines that as long as it doesn't have 12 different reboots and a big red amorphous glob mysteriously hovering in the air, I'm happy.

It's a low bar, I know. Neon wigs are fine.
posted by bonehead at 11:40 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

On reflection, it's obvious that Star Wars follows a "The Rise of" format, while the others I mentioned follow a "Rise of The" format. My mistake.
posted by subocoyne at 11:40 AM on April 12, 2019

prize bull octorok: "LANDO"

LANDO!!!
posted by Chrysostom at 11:40 AM on April 12, 2019 [12 favorites]

I fully expect JJ to cow to the toxic manbabies, but hope to be mistaken.

Indeed, the fact that Rose is not on screen tells me just that.

Yeah, but it also starts with Rey being the the culmination of thousands years of Jedi, and doing a fucking back flip over a tie fighter. Which all the toxic manbabies will HAAAAAATE.
posted by Mavri at 11:45 AM on April 12, 2019 [23 favorites]

Leia ascends

Yes, I'm really hoping the title refers to Leia, especially since it seems like the original plan was for Ep. 7 to feature Han, Ep. 8 to feature Luke, and Ep. 9 to feature Leia.

Did Leia ever use the Skywalker name in any of the films?
posted by straight at 11:46 AM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Did Leia ever use the Skywalker name in any of the films?

or in any of the Legends books?
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:49 AM on April 12, 2019

Star Wars!
Give me those... Star Wars!
Nothing but Star Wars —
Don't let them end.
Ah, Star Wars!
If they should bar wars,
Please let these Star Wars stay!
posted by steef at 11:51 AM on April 12, 2019 [21 favorites]

BTW, can we get a mod to change the link to the official Star Wars channel trailer? The one linked has watermark branding of a pretty low-hanging clickbait channel, and none of those deserve our views. Official link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adzYW5DZoWs
posted by tclark at 11:51 AM on April 12, 2019 [15 favorites]

Maybe it's just the angle, but it really doesn't look like she's going to clear the tie fighter with that flip.
posted by ODiV at 11:52 AM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I fully expect JJ to cow to the toxic manbabies, but hope to be mistaken.

Indeed, the fact that Rose is not on screen tells me just that.

Yeah, since Rose is in the movie, her omission from the trailer seems a craven way to dodge toxic so-called fans dragging the film on Twitter.

I hope the film ends with Rose punching Kylo Ren out all by herself while Rei takes care of the serious business.
posted by Gelatin at 11:52 AM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

Did Leia ever use the Skywalker name in any of the films?

For that matter, does Kylo Ren ever use the name Skywalker? I thought he was "Ben Solo" before the Sith nonsense.

(honestly these trailer threads are so funny, I feel like we're all parsing the lines of a prophecy. guys, rey isn't a skywalker, she's a horcrux!)
posted by grandiloquiet at 11:54 AM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Yeah, lets not forget that before Ep. 8, the manbabies were all mad at Abrams for making Rey too awesome. I thought Force Awakens was lots better than any of the Abrams Star Trek movies. Even if he doesn't decide to follow through on all the stuff Rian was doing that I liked, Abrams could still deliver a pretty good movie that doesn't pander to the toxic dudes.
posted by straight at 11:55 AM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

Did Leia ever use the Skywalker name in any of the films?

or in any of the Legends books?

AFAIK, she's always gone by Leia Organa or Leia Organa Solo, although Wookiepedia gives her name at birth as "Leia Amidala Skywalker" (based on what source, I'm not sure).

Either way, she definitely has as much right to the Skywalker legacy as anyone. Whether she'd want it, on the other hand...
posted by tobascodagama at 11:56 AM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Maybe it's just the angle, but it really doesn't look like she's going to clear the tie fighter with that flip.

Doesn't really look to me like clearing it is the plan so much as slicing it down the middle is. She wouldn't need the lightsaber just to clear it.
posted by solotoro at 12:01 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Maybe it's just the angle, but it really doesn't look like she's going to clear the tie fighter with that flip.

Hey, it ended up working out OK for The Rock.

Regarding the trailer:
Ah, sand. I knew JJ couldn't quit you!
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:01 PM on April 12, 2019

I'm just glad I hear they'll be giving Star Wars a rest for a while. There was a time when I really, really wanted new and more Star Wars. Then they did and just kind of never relented, it was more Star Wars forever and over time it just killed whatever conditioning I had that made me love it to begin with. Still, this is the first time since Episode 1 I've heard of any even temporary relief from SW.
posted by GoblinHoney at 12:03 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

since we're talking lando can we just say how much chutzpah it took for han to press lando to promise "not a scratch" on falcon in ROTJ given what he did to her in solo
posted by entropicamericana at 12:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Ah, sand. I knew JJ couldn't quit you!

It's coarse. And it gets everywhere....
posted by theartandsound at 12:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

I wonder if this will refer back to the theory that Palpatine created Anakin

IIRC This isn't just a theory anymore, it was confirmed in the (canonical) Darth Vader comic series.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 12:05 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Was that Palpatine laughing at the end?

We never saw the body, did we?
posted by straight at 12:06 PM on April 12, 2019

Are we sure that's Palpatine's laugh? Kinda sounded like one of Hamil's cartoon voices? I'd like to think Luke's Force ghost turned to the dark side, just to spice things up.

When the trailer dropped at the Star Wars Celebration Ep IX panel a few hours ago, they played the trailer and then Ian McDiarmid himself came out on stage to say, in full Palpatine voice, "ROLL IT AGAIN!" And they did. So I'd be very surprised if it wasn't him in the movie and trailer.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:07 PM on April 12, 2019 [30 favorites]

This is an article about star wars.
posted by dng at 12:07 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Was that Palpatine laughing at the end?
— We never saw the body, did we?

Luke in Empire...
Boba Fett in RotJ...
Darth Maul in Phantom Menace...

In star wars, nothing that falls down a deep hole ever dies.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:09 PM on April 12, 2019 [20 favorites]

Maybe it's just the angle, but it really doesn't look like she's going to clear the tie fighter with that flip.

She's going to stab it with her light saber!

The prominent use of Leia's theme in the trailer has me hoping she's the Skywalker in the title.
posted by Mavri at 12:09 PM on April 12, 2019 [11 favorites]

Still the best Rise

Anger is an energy! Let the hate flow!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Are we sure that's Palpatine's laugh? Kinda sounded like one of Hamil's cartoon voices?

Ian McDiarmid returns to Star Wars as the sinister Emperor Palpatine for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The actor and the character were the surprise reveal at the end of the teaser trailer shown to conclude today’s panel at Star Wars Celebration in Chicago.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2019

Seeing Lando just made me think of Superego's bit about how badly the tri-trilogy dealt with Han Solo's death. Paul F. Tompkins really knocked it out of the park.
posted by boo_radley at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Was that Palpatine laughing at the end?

We never saw the body, did we?

You know who else's body we never saw? Han. (Fell into the mist below the bridge.)
posted by The Tensor at 12:10 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Burhanistan, that was exactly what I heard too. I love the idea of trickster Luke being the Skywalker who "rises" from the Jedi astral plane while everybody in this universe thinks that it was Palpatine's laughter in the trailer.
posted by vverse23 at 12:11 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

it's going to be Palpatine fighting Solo in the astral plane
posted by boo_radley at 12:13 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

New theory: Luke, Yoda, Obi-Wan, Vader, Han, and Palpatine all return as Force Ghosts battling it out across the space-time-spirit-flesh continuum, the fallout of their spiritual warfare threatening to tear holes in the fabric of our physical universe, so Kylo and Rey (joined by Chewie and a wizened Jar-Jar Binks) strap on their proton packs and save the day.
posted by duffell at 12:13 PM on April 12, 2019 [12 favorites]

As a Reylo shipper fan with a scholarly interest in metatextual narratives, I am interested and ready to be surprised
posted by Countess Elena at 12:14 PM on April 12, 2019 [17 favorites]

MEESA LOOKED AT THE TRAP, REY!
posted by Servo5678 at 12:14 PM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

"Rey, when someone asks if you're a sith, you say YES!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:16 PM on April 12, 2019 [12 favorites]

"We've passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you, now."
posted by zeek321 at 12:17 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Am I the only one who hears Billy D. Williams whispering "I have telepathy" during that shot of him flying the Falcon?
posted by straight at 12:18 PM on April 12, 2019

Time for some nerd shit.

In the EU (which I understand isn't cannon) Palpatine basically becomes the dark side version of a jedi ghost that exists around Endor and is able to possess people.

Just sayin'.
posted by East14thTaco at 12:19 PM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

MEESA LOOKED AT THE TRAP, REY!
....
"Rey, when someone asks if you're a sith, you say YES!"


Star Wars Episode IX: Force Ghost Busters!
posted by The Bellman at 12:19 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Fear ghosts you must not.
posted by duffell at 12:22 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Why is Rose Tico so polarizing?
posted by Selena777 at 12:22 PM on April 12, 2019

Look again. Someone is repairing the helmet, but it is not Kylo. It is someone with long hair or fur on their hands.

You're right. It looked to me like just fur cuffs on the sleeves the first time I looked but the hair does seem too long for that. I gotta say, if they work Black Krrsantan into the movie that'd improve my outlook on it considerably.
posted by mstokes650 at 12:24 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

I am 100% behind this excellent theory about who Rey is.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:25 PM on April 12, 2019 [32 favorites]

Also that's not a TIE Fighter she's flipping over, that's a TIE Interceptor.

This marks an interval in your nerd shit.
posted by East14thTaco at 12:27 PM on April 12, 2019 [25 favorites]

I'm just glad I hear they'll be giving Star Wars a rest for a while.

Except for the new "land" at Disney's theme parks and the half million or so TV shows they're making for Disney+.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:28 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

"We've passed on all we know. A thousand generations live in you, now."

Sounds like JJ's gone back to the original source material and appropriated other memory.
posted by The Tensor at 12:29 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

This is my sticking my fingers in my ears and going LALALALALALALA because in 1980 I was a little girl who dreamed of wielding a light saber and being a Jedi and slo-mo flipping the fuck over in mid-air between the wings of a TIE fighter or some impossible Matrix-ass shit AND NOW LOOK! I have waited a long, long time for these films to give this to me and I am not letting the internet snatch it away.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:31 PM on April 12, 2019 [73 favorites]

I can't believe you all have missed the obvious clues! Reylo accidentally open up a time wormhole, which all of the leads fly through. Here, we discover that Palpatine is actually Rey's father. Rey tries to kill her father, but Kylo, knowing what that will do to her, intervenes, also therefore saving Darth Vader in the process, since he now won't have to face Palpatine. Darth, however, not now having to choose Luke over Palpatine, no longer has the opportunity to switch over to the light side. Sensing Kylo's weakness, Darth kills Kylo. Luke kills Darth. Rey kills Luke. Then Rey flies back into the wormhole, even further back, and kills all of the Ewoks, then flies further back and kills Anakin, Padmé Amidala, Jar Jar, and Obi Wan, then flies further back and kills George Lucas. It's all right there in the text!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:34 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

I am 100% behind this excellent theory about who Rey is.

That would be absolutely perfect - it would make actual, compelling narrative sense. So of course there is zero chance it is true.
posted by FakeFreyja at 12:37 PM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

Why is Rose Tico so polarizing?

Because there are some people who are so twisted up inside with self-hatred and anger that the very existence of someone who exemplifies unironically wholesome earnestness and forthrightness becomes intolerable to them. Especially if that someone is female and non-white.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:37 PM on April 12, 2019 [47 favorites]

The trailer isn't part of the movie and I think it's better to just not watch them rather than let them turn the act of watching a movie into an 18 month experience.
posted by bleep at 12:39 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

What fun is that?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:41 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

I am 100% behind this excellent theory about who Rey is.

And since Palpatine created Skywalker, that means he gets to have a "no, I am your father" reveal in this film?
posted by Uncle Ira at 12:42 PM on April 12, 2019

The trailer isn't part of the movie and I think it's better to just not watch them rather than let them turn the act of watching a movie into an 18 month experience.

Let me go to hell in my own way, please.
posted by nubs at 12:43 PM on April 12, 2019 [16 favorites]

The prominent use of Leia's theme in the trailer has me hoping she's the Skywalker in the title.

I am right there with you.
posted by briank at 12:43 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

turn the act of watching a movie into an 18 month experience.

Have I got a podcast for you!
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:44 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

I'm on the side of those who are disappointed to see Abrams' pastiche brush being deployed liberally once more. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if that chunk of Death Star Rey is staring at toward the end is yet another, even more colossal new weapon (a...SOLAR SYSTEM ANNIHILATOR, let's say) that the plucky crew of resistance rebels shot out of the sky with just a single fighter.

Of course, by this point pretty much every moon and planet in the galaxy has already had a Death Star blow up above it...

(I say all this with abiding love for Episode IV, which I saw in summer 1977 as an eleven year old boy at a drive-in).
posted by senor biggles at 12:46 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

So .. the last 4 notes are Kylo's theme but in a major not minor chord, right?
So be prepared for the hero turn for good old Ben.
posted by bowmaniac at 12:48 PM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

Indeed, the fact that Rose is not on screen tells me just that.

Yeah, since Rose is in the movie, her omission from the trailer seems a craven way to dodge toxic so-called fans dragging the film on Twitter.

How is leaving her out of the teaser but in all likelihood having her in the full trailer, and of course in the movie itself, a dodge? We go through this with every teaser - it's a teaser, not everything is done yet, they're working with the sizzle bits they have completed. Plenty of time to drag Abrams later if necessary.

Anyway, I loved Rey's flippy move, Kylo's smashing dudes, and Lando's smile, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm also 49 so who cares, it's really for my 14 year old daughter.
posted by schoolgirl report at 12:48 PM on April 12, 2019 [13 favorites]

You know what would be really, really funny? If what appears to be remnants from the Death Star are actually remnants from a destroyed moon colony.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:50 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

I love Kylo, but he killed Han Solo, so he gotta die, doesn’t he? Do they have FanFare for a trailer?
posted by Selena777 at 12:51 PM on April 12, 2019

I love Kylo, but he killed Han Solo, so he gotta die, doesn’t he?

Last minute redemption worked for Darth Vader, so there's precedent. I honestly hope this film doesn't go there, but...
posted by nubs at 12:54 PM on April 12, 2019

"That's no space station! It's a moon!"
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:54 PM on April 12, 2019 [11 favorites]

I love the original Star Wars film. AND then there was that OMG 40 years wait (no, the next 5 movies didn't exist. I can't hear you LALALALALALALALA) and they started making star wars movies again, and I'm happy. And looking forward to this. I'm OK with people not liking this, after all, that's why there's chocolate and LIVER for the haters who just can't with the enjoyment.
posted by evilDoug at 1:00 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

LIVER, LAUGH, LOVE
posted by Barack Spinoza at 1:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

-Palpatine corrupts Rey
-Mace Windu is back! and he has a mechanical hand!
-Rey cuts his new hand off and Palpatine throws him out a window again
-JAR JAR EX MACHINA
posted by clockzero at 1:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I am 100% behind this excellent theory about who Rey is.

Interesting, but there's the small matter that it's basically also the origin for another character that Big Mouse just acquired.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:12 PM on April 12, 2019

"X is secretly a clone of Y" is not an "excellent theory".
posted by The Tensor at 1:16 PM on April 12, 2019 [17 favorites]

I have to say, all the Disney Star Wars trailers have had excellent music, but this one just left me breathless. Just like in the Force Awakens trailer when they used the Han & Leia theme, the use of Leia's theme here is just superb. Gives me all the old Star Wars feels.
posted by dellsolace at 1:16 PM on April 12, 2019 [9 favorites]

rise of zombie skywalkers obv
posted by Kabanos at 1:19 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

1) I hate the title. Really really hate it.

2) TAKE MY MONEY! OMG SHE JEDI'D THE TIE FIGHTER UPSIDE DOWN!
posted by Mchelly at 1:24 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

>"A thousand generations"

It only feels that long since 1977. Or I guess for organisms that reach sexual maturity in two weeks? That would be excellent. They wake up in the end and discover they're actually fish in a tank, with little plastic castle deathstars.
posted by PandaMomentum at 1:29 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

What ever happened to the Boba Fett spinoff?
posted by sammyo at 1:36 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

> What ever happened to the Boba Fett spinoff?

If you're ready to part with $7 more per month:
The Mandalorian Will Be Available on Disney+ From Day One
posted by RedOrGreen at 1:39 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

Last minute redemption worked for Darth Vader, so there's precedent. I honestly hope this film doesn't go there, but...

But unlike Vader, Kylo Ren killed the hero's beloved old mentor in the first movie! And Vader could redeem himself because there was the more evil Emperor Palapatine around for him to turn against at the last moment.
posted by straight at 1:39 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

What ever happened to the Boba Fett spinoff?

You mean the one where he retires to a 70% water planet because it reminds him of his childhood on Kamino and becomes a lighthouse keeper? It came out a few months ago.
posted by prize bull octorok at 1:40 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

What ever happened to the Boba Fett spinoff?

There is a trailer
posted by thelonius at 1:43 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

First trailers from the two previous films, just for interest and reference:

The Force Awakens
The Last Jedi
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:46 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

Reylo accidentally open up a time wormhole

I'm hard-pressed to think of a worse direction for Star Wars to go than "Time Travel"
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:48 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

So does the taking a break from Star Wars thing mean I'm NOT getting the Ahsoka and Sabine kick butt movie that I really, really want? Harrumph.
posted by synecdoche at 1:52 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

I'm hard-pressed to think of a worse direction for Star Wars to go than "Time Travel"

Musical comedy?
posted by chavenet at 1:54 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

Ok but... what role does the Quantum realm play in all of this?
posted by wabbittwax at 1:54 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

Looks like it could be fun.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:56 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

"X is secretly a clone of Y" is not an "excellent theory".

YMMV, of course, but I think it would be great thematically.

—It would explain and complicate Kylo Ren’s connection to Rey. He wants so badly to be Vader. She already is. How does he respond when his vision of what Vader would do clashes with what she’s doing? Or does he fall into a jealous rage that he can’t out-Vader her?
—It would finally do something actually interesting with the Empire’s cloning technology.
—That line in TLJ about how her parents were “nobody”? LITERALLY TRUE.
—The Rise of Skywalker really works as a title under this theory.
—And finally, balance in the Force, as the living female Anakin undoes the harmful legacy of the deceased male Anakin. Vader does bring balance, but it takes two lives to do it.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 1:58 PM on April 12, 2019 [34 favorites]

> What ever happened to the Boba Fett spinoff?

If you're ready to part with $7 more per month:
The Mandalorian Will Be Available on Disney+ From Day One

Spoiler: The title character in The Mandalorian isn't Boba Fett, but a different character with a similar suit of armor.

The actual Boba Fett spinoff (greenlit at the same time as Rogue One and Solo) got kiboshed for two reasons: Because director Josh Trank had developed a reputation as something of a "problem child" during the production of his ill-fated Fantastic Four reboot at Fox and left the project, and also because the Solo spinoff performed well below expectations.
posted by Strange Interlude at 2:00 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

I have to say, all the Disney Star Wars trailers have had excellent music, but this one just left me breathless. Just like in the Force Awakens trailer when they used the Han & Leia theme, the use of Leia's theme here is just superb. Gives me all the old Star Wars feels.

Yes, I came here to say that the music for the trailer is the best part.
posted by warriorqueen at 2:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

When are we getting that Star Wars universe reboot of Fantastic Voyage where they take a ship inside an ailing Jedi's body to repair the midichlorians?
posted by duffell at 2:08 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Why is Rose Tico so polarizing?

She’s a PoC who appears out of nowhere in the second act and turns out to be important to the story.

In short she’s Lando but now racists have the Internet to magnify their voices.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:08 PM on April 12, 2019 [22 favorites]

I'm hard-pressed to think of a worse direction for Star Wars to go than "Time Travel"

Musical comedy?

Donny and Marie had a musical take that even predates the legendary Star Wars Holiday Special: Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:10 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

Speaking of Star Wars music, we saw the New York Philharmonic last week at one of their warhorse-o-riffic "Phil the Hall" concerts. Ludwig Van 5 & 9, Copland, Bernstein, Ride of the Valkyries of course, and then Star Wars for the encore. Gotta recognize: Nobody, not even Wagner, makes an orchestra hit on all cylinders like John Williams.
posted by whuppy at 2:12 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Everyone is going to hate it. It could be the best film ever made but I'm absolutely certain that there's never been a film more set up for failure by virtue of fan expectations. I actually wish they were doing a Half Life 3 -- just never coming out with it for so long that everyone eventually stops expecting it and the myth of what could have been becomes far more interesting than the actual thing could have been.
posted by treepour at 2:13 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I just realized that finding a piece of Death Star II may finally get us an onscreen answer to "forest moon named Endor" or "forest moon of a planet named Endor." Exciting Times indeed.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:14 PM on April 12, 2019 [15 favorites]

The Death Star wreckage on, presumably, Endor seems to contradict canon about the "Ewok Holocaust."
posted by me3dia at 2:16 PM on April 12, 2019

Nobody, not even Wagner, makes an orchestra hit on all cylinders like John Williams.

nobody,not even wagner,has such large brass
posted by Barack Spinoza at 2:17 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

MEESA BEHIND IT ALL!!! WHOLE TIME!! WOOOWOOOWOOOWOOOWOOO

How wude!
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:19 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

When are we getting that Star Wars universe reboot of Fantastic Voyage where they take a ship inside an ailing Jedi's body to repair the midichlorians?

Sorry, Madeline L'Engle already wrote A Wind in the Door.
posted by The Tensor at 2:22 PM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

The Death Star wreckage on, presumably, Endor seems to contradict canon about the "Ewok Holocaust."

Perhaps they've come to finish the job.
posted by nubs at 2:22 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

Brandon Blatcher: First trailers from the two previous films, just for interest and reference.

Thanks, that was really interesting to watch all three teasers back to back. Gives me a bit more of a sense for how little the teaser is actually showing.
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:24 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

I'm surprised, it's really the end of the saga? I just assumed Disney would just keep cranking these movies out for decades. I would be impressed if this were really the final movie. Of the main storyline that is; I do enjoy the "side story" movies.
posted by zardoz at 2:25 PM on April 12, 2019

Can't wait to dance on its grave...
posted by jim in austin at 2:27 PM on April 12, 2019

Well, if we have a future with movies in it, I expect that in a couple of generations, somebody will dust off the old Skywalker-saga machine and try it again.
posted by Countess Elena at 2:28 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

(But I also think, now that I consider it, that it wouldn't do very well. Like the time they tried to make Zorro a thing with Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but nothing really came of it. Times move on.)
posted by Countess Elena at 2:31 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

The sequels so far have done a great job developing Rey and Kylo into probably the most powerful Force users ever. Their ability to teach themselves and each other Force abilities sets them apart. Rey and Kylo learned a TON of new abilities in the last film, and I hope this film pushes them even farther on the path toward absolute immortality. Tempting Rey with Dark Side power is super interesting. I would love to see her struggle with it, as she is clearly well positioned to assume control of the galaxy. Her intentions may be good and noble, but access to that much power is undeniably tempting.

"Rise" could refer to Kylo (he is now Supreme Commander), Anakin, Luke, Leia, or all of the above. We know that Anakin exists as a Force "ghost", and his children probably do as well. He's not truly dead in any event, and neither is Palpatine apprently. The ability to continue existing within the Force is deapparently a path to immortality.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:31 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

Gotta recognize: Nobody, not even Wagner, makes an orchestra hit on all cylinders like John Williams.

Many years ago John Williams came out to San Francisco and conducted his own work with the San Francisco symphony.

I took two friends as a surprise for their first anniversary. They both loved John Williams but had him classified in their heads as movie music. This turned out to be important.

Having bundled them into the car ("Dress like you’re going to a wedding"), about halfway up to SF they begged for at least a little more detail.

"We’re going to the symphony," I said.

After a long pause I get "You know, I don’t want to offend but you really do know we’re not symphony kind of people, right?"

"Actually you are."

"No, we’re really not."

"Yes you are. But I tell you what, we’ll go have dinner, go to the symphony and if you aren’t feeling it after the first piece we’ll leave."

Unfortunately further surprise was ruined by the fact that half of our social circle happened to be having dinner in the same restaurant. That was a bit suspicious and it all came out.

We did not leave after the first piece.

But being in a symphony hall with hundreds of other Silicon Valley geeks for whom John Williams’ works *were* the soundtrack to our childhoods, with the man himself conducting, was one of the best gifts I’ve ever given to anyone else or myself.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:37 PM on April 12, 2019 [37 favorites]

I'm surprised, it's really the end of the saga? I just assumed Disney would just keep cranking these movies out for decades

They'll remake them all first.
posted by Max Power at 2:44 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Three indistinguishable trailers for three unremarkable movies. Still gonna go see it though, for some reason

It's cool and good that these new films (especially Rogue One) have starships operating within atmosphere, but it gets kinda tedious when all three movies have the same "starfighter flying low to the surface" effect!
posted by Apocryphon at 2:47 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

In a surprise twist, Disney will remake these live-action films entirely in hand-drawn animation.
posted by Uncle Ira at 2:48 PM on April 12, 2019 [14 favorites]

I'm surprised, it's really the end of the saga?

Rian Johnson is developing another trilogy, though it hasn't even reached pre-production on the first movie yet.
posted by tobascodagama at 3:11 PM on April 12, 2019

With all the gross unpleasantness of the SW fan community constantly on full display I've come to realize that none of the movies are really that good, nor that interesting. The two best ones are The Last Jedi (which is the only Star Wars movie that comes close to being an actual film instead of a toy commercial) and Empire Strikes Back (which is runner up). Otherwise it's amazing how much of it is just trotting out the same tired things for nerds to hoot and clap at because they recognize the thing from the other thing while recycling a bunch of cliches. I won't miss this franchise at all, but unfortunately this isn't even remotely the end of it.
posted by codacorolla at 3:13 PM on April 12, 2019 [11 favorites]

So: “your cantina band sucks”? :)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 3:16 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

Well, I'm excited for this.
posted by sarcasticah at 3:20 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

No "The (proper noun)(noun)" yet, either, a la Ludlum.

The Solo Encounter
The Skywalker Confabulation
The Kenobi Timeshare
The Organa Juicebar

I guess Big Bang Theory swiped that formula, too, but Robert Ludlum did it decades ago (The Bourne Identity being the obvious one).
posted by aurelian at 3:20 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

aurelian, I think you'll find that's called a Roddenberry.
posted by duffell at 3:40 PM on April 12, 2019

my thought on Kylo’s redemption is I liked that they played with that expectation in TLJ and came down hard on the side of no, he’s not seeing the light, he’s manipulating you and manipulating the idea of redemption stories to duck out of accountability and to gain more power.
The thing about redemption is... a person isn’t redeemed until they actually substantially fix the problem that is their own selfish actions. Vader isn’t redeemed until he cuts off the problem at the source, which is himself, and is as is willing to sacrifice himself as Luke is. Rick Blaine is not a good guy until he actually hands over the visas. It’s hard to see how Kylo can be redeemed and not break the story’s integrity unless he completely gives up power or something.
posted by cricketcello at 3:45 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

The Organa Juicebar

I think you'll find that's called a Roddenberry.

Mmm... Roddenberry smoothies.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 3:48 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

I'm 100% here for a feral ewok cult

How were the Ewoks of RotJ not a feral murder cult? If Threepio hadn't been shiny and sixmillionlingual things would have gone a lot bloodier. Sure, Luke could have saved the other Rebels with his Jedi powers, but then the native guerilleros with the pointy spears and teeth and claws and hidden traps and big appetites would have been a second enemy instead of an ally.

Anyway, LANDOOOOOO!!!

And I still have hopes that Ben, after a period of doubling down on the supervillainism, will come back to the light and his true Skywalker legacy. I don't want another Vader-style deathbed conversion, though: live light or die dark, kid.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:49 PM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

(Sorry: The Roddenberry Smoothie)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 3:50 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

I Know What You Did Last Jedi
Inland Empire Strikes Back (ok i already tried this one back in the original 2 things thread)
Knights of the Oldboy Republic
posted by glonous keming at 4:01 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

oh god here we go
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

The Rise of SKYY Vodka
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:08 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

In short she’s Lando but now racists have the Internet to magnify their voices.

She has the united forces of the racists and sexists against her. She has to to everything Lando did, backwards and in high heels.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:10 PM on April 12, 2019 [11 favorites]

...and when she does they'll look up and cry "Mary Sue!"
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 4:29 PM on April 12, 2019 [11 favorites]

The actual Boba Fett spinoff (greenlit at the same time as Rogue One and Solo) got kiboshed for two reasons: Because director Josh Trank had developed a reputation as something of a "problem child" during the production of his ill-fated Fantastic Four reboot at Fox and left the project, and also because the Solo spinoff performed well below expectations.

Cool story, but the now hiatusized Boba Fett movie was announced as being in the hands of James Mangold. Josh Trank was on the list to do a standalone Star War, but I don’t recall that a particular subject was ever confirmed; however, it seems like Fant4stic or whatever put paid to that.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:29 PM on April 12, 2019

I'm not expecting it to be good because Carrie Fisher is gone, but will watch the last bits of her I can get. Sigh.

Title makes no sense when the entire family is dead or an asshole.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:35 PM on April 12, 2019

That’s a very ... literal reading of the title.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:37 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I mean, I was as disappointed as anyone when we didn’t see the Force making coffee at 6:00 AM in Ep VII
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:42 PM on April 12, 2019 [12 favorites]

I still want the standalone Kenobi movie; that's a story I felt had more reason to be told than Solo's. For my money, half of Han's charm and purpose as a character was that he was just this guy who showed up out of nowhere just trying to make a buck and got caught up in something bigger. And MacGregor's not going to look thirty forever although dammit I could be wrong on that one
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:43 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

I mean, I was as disappointed as anyone when we didn’t see the Force making coffee at 6:00 AM in Ep VII

I'm still waiting to see some actual stars participating in all these wars.
posted by dng at 4:45 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

That's mean. Harrison Ford has a pretty darn good career.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:46 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Have they even tried to get Bill Murray?
posted by thelonius at 5:02 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

Have they even tried to get Bill Murray?

He and Dan Ackroyd will have a surprise cameo where they clean up the undead Jedi situation.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:13 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

He did sing the theme song
posted by nubs at 5:14 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

He and Dan Ackroyd will have a surprise cameo where they clean up the undead Jedi situation.


For a moment, my reading comprehension was not working, or I had a wire crossed or something, and I got the image of Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray in janitorial garb, literally mopping up the grisly aftermath of a bunch of slaughtered Ewoks.

Then I realized what I’d ACTUALLY read, and it occurred to me that, eh, I’d be okay with either interpretation.
posted by darkstar at 5:28 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

This is great and all but any movie without Frank Oz is going to pale in comparison to a movie with Frank Oz.

Yes. Yes, I did say 'any movie'. No, I did not mean to say 'any Star Wars movie'. Why do you ask?
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:31 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

The Terminator, starring Frank Oz.

Driving Miss Daisy, starring Frank Oz.

Caligula, starring Frank Oz.

The Wizard of Oz, starring Frank Oz.


Yep, works for me!
posted by darkstar at 5:33 PM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

Ok but... what role does the Quantum realm play in all of this?

Rey defeats Kylo by jumping up his ass.
posted by mrgoat at 5:37 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

Remember when Guardians of the Galaxy was set to be the new Star Wars for this generation?

Perhaps once Star Wars is on hiatus and so is the MCU myth arc, it can be again.
posted by Apocryphon at 5:50 PM on April 12, 2019

It’s hard to see how Kylo can be redeemed and not break the story’s integrity unless he completely gives up power or something.

If Palpy is back, then that's a larger evil he can fight against, alongside Rey and the gang.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:53 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Remember when Guardians of the Galaxy was set to be the new Star Wars for this generation?

haha, no, what? just because it was in space?

well now I'm trying to imagine how things would have gone differently for Star Wars if it had shoehorned a mix tape of 50's music into the narrative somehow
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:53 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

I was going to suggest Zardoz, starring Frank Oz, but then got an image of Frank Oz in that ridiculous red mankini...
posted by darkstar at 5:56 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

This is my sticking my fingers in my ears and going LALALALALALALA because in 1980 I was a little girl who dreamed of wielding a light saber and being a Jedi and slo-mo flipping the fuck over in mid-air between the wings of a TIE fighter or some impossible Matrix-ass shit AND NOW LOOK! I have waited a long, long time for these films to give this to me and I am not letting the internet snatch it away. by soren_lorensen


I look forward to seeing this in a theater of tiny Rey's and grown women like me, who never got to be tiny Reys, but always wanted to be. by anastasiav

LESS SPOONS DISNEY PRINCESSES, MORE KNIVES LIGHT SABERS.
posted by loquacious at 5:56 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

Prediction: Rey doesn’t destroy that TIE interceptor, merely punches into it, gets carried along, and then joins a compatriot or murders a foe to commandeer it off world.

I'm betting it's a training exercise or she's meeting Kylo somewhere and he bought a tie fighter to mess with her, but not kill her, hence the Tie not actually firing its lasers., which would kill Rey instantly.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:57 PM on April 12, 2019

I can't say I feel any excitement about Palpatine being "back." I associate him with the bad parts of RotJ and, of course, the prequels; I never found him that compelling a villain even though he's a recognizable type I normally like. Mostly, though, I just want the story to move on.

I liked the visual of the crashed Death Star, though.
posted by praemunire at 5:57 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

LESS SPOONS DISNEY PRINCESSES, MORE KNIVES LIGHT SABERS.

Rey is a Disney princess. So is Shuri!
posted by praemunire at 5:58 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

haha, no, what? just because it was in space?

Because it was a fun sci-fi adventures romp without the ponderous monomyth and politics the prequels were saddled with. A breath of fresh air at the time.

Launch a Gamora & Nebula Thanos Sisters franchise.
posted by Apocryphon at 6:02 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

Recently, I was re-watching Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, one of my favorite movies, after not having seen it in forever, and was momentarily alarmed when Emperor Palpatine walked into the scene wearing a butler’s outfit...

I calmed down when I remembered that, yeah, Ian McDiarmid did, in fact, work in movies other than Star Wars.

Anyway, I am in favor of more Ian McDiarmid.
posted by darkstar at 6:03 PM on April 12, 2019 [5 favorites]

My feelings about the movies are all over the place but this trailer grabs me.
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:03 PM on April 12, 2019

I'm 100% here for a feral ewok cult that venerates the wrathful spirit of Palpatine in the charred ruins of the second Death Star and in fact now I'll be really fucking disappointed if we don't get that

So, like, a reboot of the Christmas show?
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 6:10 PM on April 12, 2019 [6 favorites]

The Last Jedi Is the better movie, but goddamn if you can’t cut a evocative trailer out of a JJ Abrams flick.
posted by thecaddy at 6:22 PM on April 12, 2019

Yeahyeahyeah, what happens to the Falcon.
posted by clavdivs at 6:28 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

He goes to prison along with the Snowman, IIRC
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:31 PM on April 12, 2019 [11 favorites]

Should've gone with Star Wars Episode IX: Bones, Bones, Bones, Bones, Bones
posted by ckape at 7:36 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Rey is a Disney princess. So is Shuri!

I know I know, I just couldn't figure out some relevant or clever Star Wars thing to replace spoons with and still support the thesis.
posted by loquacious at 7:37 PM on April 12, 2019

I want the very last scene to be a teenager in the 1970s (“played” by a creepy uncanny-valley GCI young Mark Hamill) waking up in his suburban Californian bedroom — it was all a stupid dream!
posted by D.C. at 7:38 PM on April 12, 2019 [10 favorites]

hence the Tie not actually firing its lasers., which would kill Rey instantly.

Heh. I went the opposite direction with it: firing lasers at Jedis tends to get the bolts deflected right back in your face.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:43 PM on April 12, 2019 [3 favorites]

I want the very last scene to be a teenager in the 1970s (“played” by a creepy uncanny-valley GCI young Mark Hamill) waking up in his suburban Californian bedroom — it was all a stupid dream!

Oh my god please don't let Lucas see that comment. Why would you even say this? Are you trying to immanentize the eschaton?

I'm still dealing with the idea of Jar Jar being a Jedi and the prequels all really being a dumb technical film school stunt where everyone thinks that all the practical FX shots are CGI and all the CGI shots are practical FX and just a general "fuck you" from Lucas to all the rabid fanboys and haters because he really is kind of sick in the head like that.
posted by loquacious at 7:47 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

> I'm hard-pressed to think of a worse direction for Star Wars to go than "Time Travel"

Star Wars already has time travel, in the last season of Rebels. I'm fairly sure it's gonna be important.

*sittin' here hoping for old-lady Ahsoka Tano grumbling at force ghost Anakin to go and do something about his brat grandson*
posted by lovecrafty at 8:08 PM on April 12, 2019 [1 favorite]

Where are the porgs?
posted by MrGuilt at 8:29 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

If we’re making wishes, then I want to see the Kaiburr crystal, and a cameo by a certain blue-skinned Grand Admiral.
posted by darkstar at 8:29 PM on April 12, 2019 [4 favorites]

Where are the porgs?

With luck, their sole surviving legacy will be a wacky dance number in the inevitable Star Wars Christmas Special reboot.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:35 PM on April 12, 2019 [2 favorites]

The trailer isn't part of the movie and I think it's better to just not watch them rather than let them turn the act of watching a movie into an 18 month experience.

So don’t...? Clearly this is a thread for people who do want to watch the trailer?

I liked the trailer. I liked the flip. I don’t hate the title. But I’m sure my opinions don’t count because I liked TLJ and TFA and I find IV kind of boring. Like, ok, for the time it was great, but I wouldn’t watch it again now. (But honestly I find the pacing of almost all older movies torturous . The furthest I can go back is Raiders of the Lost Ark. and even that’s difficult for me.)
posted by greermahoney at 8:51 PM on April 12, 2019 [7 favorites]

Send in the Porgs...
There ought to be Porgs...
Don't bother; they're here.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:08 PM on April 12, 2019 [8 favorites]

Prediction: Rey doesn’t destroy that TIE interceptor, merely punches into it, gets carried along, and then joins a compatriot or murders a foe to commandeer it off world.

It doesn't look like she's jumped high enough to clear the cockpit...but that's OK, because (Prediction) she's slightly off to the side and she's going to slice one of the wings off it passes under her.

(Also, I just did some freeze-framing, and it pretty clearly has the proportions of a TIE/vn, though it has an old-style cockpit. Maybe it's an ugly?)
posted by The Tensor at 9:34 PM on April 12, 2019

I don't know, none of this seems to make sense…
posted by George Lucas at 11:04 PM on April 12, 2019 [23 favorites]

I like the title. I hope it means "Skywalker" becomes a job / office title, Caesar style. I like the notion of Force Ghost Palpatine. A return to Tatooine strikes me as entirely appropriate. I like that former junk scavenger Rey might have to go spelunking in the wreckage of the Death Star to meet her destiny. I like Lando, and lightsabers, and sick backflips.

I don't like nerd pessimism and pre emptive despair one bit. I'm also upset that I can't be 12 years old again to watch this one, but I wouldn't really want to stay that small for long.

I like Star Wars.
posted by EatTheWeek at 11:33 PM on April 12, 2019 [18 favorites]

Maybe it's just the angle, but it really doesn't look like she's going to clear the tie fighter with that flip.

I watched this a couple of times and I think you're right. It looks like her intention is to lightsaber the shit out of the cockpit.

And in the spirit of Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it;
Ow, why'd you slice off my hand?

"I'm Han Solo" Dancing
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:48 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Well, I'm hyped. I would happily enjoy a new Star Wars movie every year until I die. They are fun, entertaining, nostalgic and I haven't invested enough of my identity to care enough what Disney does or doesn't do to the franchise. So far I think they're doing just fine and I hope today's kids are enjoying it all as much as we did when we were young. Pew Pew!
posted by Caskeum at 5:38 AM on April 13, 2019 [12 favorites]

I'm into it. I'm also predicting now that Kylo/Ben will be the titular Skywalker who "rises" from his fall to the Darkside into some kind of redemption because that's the kind of story Star Wars has always been.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 6:19 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm hard-pressed to think of a worse direction for Star Wars to go than "Time Travel"

Musical comedy?

Would watch
posted by thivaia at 6:31 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Star Wars already has time travel, in the last season of Rebels.

Sigh. Well, at least the writers are released from the burden of continuity. And all of those non-canon books we’ve loved are now canon again due to happening in alternate timelines.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:11 AM on April 13, 2019

Theory: Snoke was just someone on board the Death Star whose body was possessed by ghost-force Palpatine after he died? Palpatine can find another body to possess easily enough, so he's still in the game?
posted by tillermo at 7:43 AM on April 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

If the Jedi are all but eliminated, the fact that there is an emphasis on balance vs all light and all dark, would Skywalker be the be name of those following Rey’s path.

They’re all Skywalkers.
posted by mrzarquon at 7:53 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm also predicting now that Kylo/Ben will be the titular Skywalker who "rises" from his fall to the Darkside

It would be infuriating to make this all about the angry white guy. I'm really hoping that the intro and voice over with Rey aren't misdirection.

If the Jedi are all but eliminated, the fact that there is an emphasis on balance vs all light and all dark, would Skywalker be the be name of those following Rey’s path.

They’re all Skywalkers.

This has been my theory since TLJ (minus the Skywalker title). Luke was the Last Jedi. He burned it all down and passed on all he knew to Rey. She's going to start a new order that balances light and dark. Since this was supposed to be Leia's movie, I hope she gets to have a teacher/mentor role in establishing the new balance. Luke and Leia, at the end.
posted by Mavri at 8:13 AM on April 13, 2019 [5 favorites]

North By Northwest/Star Wars: Episode 9
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:46 AM on April 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

"The Rise Of Skywalker" is pretty obvious when you realize the movie starts precisely three days after The Last Jedi.

He Is Risen.



(not serious)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:00 AM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Just want to say that I'm definitely on Team Force Ghost Palpatine. Having him show up physically would be a shitty reveal, but as a Force Ghost? That could definitely work.

I won't even be that mad if it turns out that Palpy himself was actually Darth Plagueis all along.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:08 AM on April 13, 2019

In current canon, force ghosting is only a light sider ability (Yoda learns about it in one of the Clone Wars eps). They ditched the EU stuff where Sith could do it.

I'm guessing it'll be either body swapping, cloning, or horcruxes? Or dude's just that tough. Maul survived getting bisected AND a long fall! Palps totally could survive getting zapped with his own force lightning and a long fall.
posted by lovecrafty at 11:21 AM on April 13, 2019

Tangential, but there's a trailer for the new single-player Star Wars game by Respawn Entertainment, Fallen Order. It's about a Jedi padawan who survived Order 66 and is now trying to survive while being hunted by the Empire's inquisitors.

Yawn at yet another white dude protagonist, but the single-player campaign for Titanfall 2 was absolutely incredible, so I'm sure this one is going to be awesome as well. (And it also has wallrunning, unlike Apex Legends...)
posted by tobascodagama at 11:50 AM on April 13, 2019

Oh, and one of the head writers also worked on Rebels, which I haven't seen but gather is pretty popular in these parts.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:52 AM on April 13, 2019

oh my god
i was wrong
it was jar-jar all along
you've finally made a gungan
(yes we've finally made a gungan)
yes you've finally made a gungan
out of meeeeeeeeeee
posted by entropicamericana at 12:28 PM on April 13, 2019 [15 favorites]

yes you've finally made a gungan
out of meeeeeeeeeee

-sa
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:29 PM on April 13, 2019 [11 favorites]

I don't know, none of this seems to make sense…

OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT GET OUT GET OUT
posted by loquacious at 12:39 PM on April 13, 2019 [1 favorite]

yes you've finally made a gungan
out of meeeeeeeeeee

I love you Admiral Thrawn!
posted by East14thTaco at 2:04 PM on April 13, 2019 [8 favorites]

I'm still upset that the prequels casually tossed aside the sort of unspoken assumption that "Skywalker" was just an occupational surname from a long family line of spaceship pilots.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:07 PM on April 13, 2019 [4 favorites]

>>"The Rise Of Skywalker" is pretty obvious when you realize
>>the movie starts precisely three days after The Last Jedi.
>
>He Is Risen.
>
>(not serious)

But then I considered when they chose to release the trailer.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 2:35 PM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

We're all going to feel pretty silly when it turns out to be all about where the waistband of Luke's trousers hits.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:48 PM on April 13, 2019 [3 favorites]

Perhaps it's a spelling mistake. Perhaps it's The Rice of Skywalker, and the whole thing will be recipes.
posted by Grangousier at 4:16 PM on April 13, 2019 [7 favorites]

Try the Tauntaun stew. It will warm you all over.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:05 PM on April 13, 2019 [4 favorites]

And hey folks, remember to tip your wait-R2.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:13 PM on April 13, 2019 [2 favorites]

"X is secretly a clone of Y" is not an "excellent theory".

I prefer to think that she is a clone of Luke, possibly made by Darth Vader himself. Vader had every reason to do this: we know he wanted Luke to join him, and with Anakin's injuries it's unlikely there's any way he could reproduce naturally. This is the only way for him to rule the galaxy in conjunction with his own flesh and blood. So Vader rescues Luke's missing limb, and takes a tissue sample.

Think about it. REY IS A LITTLE DROP OF SON.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:32 AM on April 14, 2019 [14 favorites]

Boooooooooo.....
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:35 AM on April 14, 2019 [3 favorites]

Ok, on rewatch that’s definitely Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer that Rey is squaring off with, and presumably his hands at the controls.

Did someone downvote his Reddit post again?
posted by thelonius at 5:38 AM on April 14, 2019 [6 favorites]

Think about it. REY IS A LITTLE DROP OF SON.

ಠ_ಠ
posted by Mchelly at 6:01 AM on April 14, 2019 [8 favorites]

…And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as THE SON OF THE SUNS.

- JOURNAL OF THE WHILLS, 3:127
posted by The Tensor at 12:53 PM on April 14, 2019 [2 favorites]

> Luke was the Last Jedi. He burned it all down and passed on all he knew to Rey. She's going to start a new order that balances light and dark.

Yes, I cosign this - the Jedi and the Sith, forever condemned to be battling against each other, are all wiped out and replaced by a new cult that is perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

(Yes, Disney owns both Star Wars and the MCU, so why not Thanos?)

> Think about it. REY IS A LITTLE DROP OF SON.

Now this is the quality content I expect from MeFi!
posted by RedOrGreen at 8:40 AM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]

She's going to start a new order that balances light and dark.

This is supported by the scene from Ep. 8 where Rey is pulled down into the bottom of the island, to face the “dark side” of the force, in a scene that parallels Luke’s trip into the cave on Dagoba in Ep. 5. I mentioned this in the Fanfare thread last year, but I think that Rey’s scene in Ep. 8 is pivotal, because she has an insight that Luke never did, namely that there are no “sides” to the Force, and that one isn’t either drawn to the light or seduced by the dark: one actually calls forth from the Force whatever is in you, in your heart. If you live in anger and fear, that is what the Force will amplify and manifest through; conversely, if you choose compassion and hope, light Force is drawn through you.

Luke got scared in that cave on Dagoba, and reacted with fear, and so spent his life thinking that he was fighting the “dark side” of the Force, when really that’s just a big amplifier for bad and/or scared people. Rey got scared at first in her scene in her cave, but was able to self-calm, analyze and understand that the Force is all of it, light, dark, good, bad, the totality of all life energy, and that one shouldn’t be afraid of it per se, but of the unknown parts of oneself instead.

Rey’s powerful insight in that scene is the moment where she moves beyond Luke’s learning about and understanding of the Force, and if my read is at all accurate, the outcome must be that Rey transforms what used to be the Jedi/Sith perspective into a new, unified concept of a gray Force. That’s why she really tries to persuade Kylo Ren to make a different choice at the end of the throne room battle against Snoke. She knows that it’s not “what’s in your heart” or “resisting the dark side,” but rather ‘make good choices that help people,’ or ‘use compassion and empathy instead of anger and fear,’ or whatever, but she knows now that it’s less something final and dramatic like redemption but rather simply what choices you make, and what drives them. You can choose to be good, no matter what, and the Force will amplify that and manifest in those ways—even if you’re a bad person besides. We always, always have a choice.

To me, Rey unifying Force practice in a new generation of Jedi/Sith as a new, all-Force Skywalker order would be a beautiful storyline because it really puts the metaphor, the lesson of the fable, squarely in the here-and-now and is urgently needed for us to hear: your self and your impact on others, on the world, are largely the outcomes of your intentions and choices; the world is created from our imaginations. It is a power within all of us to use our imaginations to be the kind of person, and make the kind of world, that draws light from the Force, and keeps our own darkness at bay.

That’s also why I think it’s important that Rey comes from no one and nowhere notable or significant: she is a self-made person, her values and choices create what she becomes, not destiny, not genetics, nothing but her own grit, moxie, determination and goodness. Rey is a bad-ass because she’s nobody special and doesn’t think that she’s anybody special—she’s just a person of genuine compassion and principle, and she’s not going to let evil and harm happen if she can do something to stop it. (That’s all we need, J.J., I promise!)
posted by LooseFilter at 10:00 AM on April 15, 2019 [19 favorites]

Try the Tauntaun stew. It will warm you all over.

Plus it freezes well.
posted by duffell at 11:26 AM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

Plus it freezes well.

But many find the smell unappetizing.
posted by nubs at 11:32 AM on April 15, 2019 [2 favorites]

Try the Tauntaun stew. It will warm you all over.

Plus it freezes well.

But many find the smell unappetizing.

Just don't over-heat it. It's best served Luke-warm.
posted by hanov3r at 11:40 AM on April 15, 2019 [14 favorites]

That joke deserves a hand.
posted by ODiV at 11:47 AM on April 15, 2019 [12 favorites]

But many find the smell unappetizing.

The rare surface-level observation that becomes truer as you venture deeper.
posted by duffell at 11:52 AM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

And if anybody else is interested in it : SuperEgo Season 4, Episode 6, right around 12 minutes in.
posted by boo_radley at 3:00 PM on April 15, 2019 [3 favorites]

But many find the smell unappetizing

In retrospect, the conclusion that Tauntauns smell comes from one observer, and it is perhaps unwise to extrapolate from a Solo data point.
posted by nubs at 5:02 PM on April 15, 2019 [8 favorites]

As a kid, I always just assumed "your tauntaun'll freeze before you reach the first marker" referred to Han's buns.
posted by duffell at 5:23 PM on April 15, 2019 [5 favorites]

Ian McDiarmid says Palpatine is definitely dead.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:52 PM on April 15, 2019 [1 favorite]

As a Reylo shipper

Kylo/Ben will be the titular Skywalker

Rise of Skywalker

Rule 34
posted by otherchaz at 7:16 AM on April 20, 2019 [3 favorites]

Too bad no one today has the guts to release a Star War entitled The Search for More Money.
posted by ODiV at 3:06 PM on April 20, 2019

Too bad no one today has the guts to release a Star War entitled The Search for More Money.

Star Wars: Give Us All Your Portions
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:19 AM on April 21, 2019 [4 favorites]

Disney has announced dates for new Star Wars movies (2022, 24, 26), Avatar 2-5 (2021, 23, 25, 27), a new Indiana Jones films (2021), some untitled Marvel films, and other stuff.

Behold the media amalgamation!
posted by nubs at 10:32 AM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

Based on nothing in particular, I sort of had a four year gap in mind between IX and (presumably) X, so that's only slightly sooner than I anticipated.

I'm fine with it, and I'll be happy to see more of Rian Johnson's take on Star Wars.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:06 PM on May 7, 2019

The biggest shock in that list might be that they’re still planning to release The New Mutants to theaters. Albeit in 2020, two years after shooting wrapped. Promising!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:09 PM on May 7, 2019

Based on nothing in particular, I sort of had a four year gap in mind between IX and (presumably) X, so that's only slightly sooner than I anticipated.

OTOH, maybe they'll announce the next film after IX is Episode XIII, and we'll be looking forward to the first film in the second trilogy of the second tritrilogy.
posted by duffell at 12:10 PM on May 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Imagine a reboot, stamping on a human face, forever.
posted by thelonius at 2:10 PM on May 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

The biggest shock in that list might be that they’re still planning to release The New Mutants to theaters. Albeit in 2020, two years after shooting wrapped. Promising!

Yeah, not sure if that means it's bad or that it's good in a way that's different and unproven and scares the suits.
posted by straight at 2:20 PM on May 7, 2019

Somehow I though that the New Mutants had been released a few years ago but I guess that was just a trailer. I don't do horror movies so I didn't really pay much attention.
posted by octothorpe at 4:34 PM on May 7, 2019