The Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker D23 special look shows us a new side of Rey

The final chapter of the Skywalker saga is steadily approaching and, admittedly, this one feels the hardest to close. The “special look” teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, which was first shown to D23 attendees on Saturday in Anaheim, California, has finally been released online and as expected, it’s a little overwhelming. More than half of the sizzle reel is a montage of familiar moments the encompass the series. It’s a vivid reminder of how far we’ve come over the course of nine films (and also how much we’ve lost), but before you can get too swept away by nostalgia, the clip segues into new images of the upcoming film, which focuses primarily on Rey’s journey.

The large fleet of Star Destroyers and what looks like the final battle between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) are more than enough to raise a few hairs, but it’s the stunning look at Rey cloaked in a hooded dark robe and the double-bladed Sith lightsaber that really raises some alarms. Is this classic misdirection or has does she really entertain the idea of shifting over to the dark side? Would a teaser ever really give that much away? Like not, but the image itself is enough to steal your breath away for at least a second. The clip also gave us glimpses of new character Jannah (Naomi Ackie) and Carrie Fisher as Leia, which director J.J. Abrams confirmed was filmed during The Force Awakens: “Of course, we can’t talk about the cast without talking about Carrie Fisher. And the character of Leia is really in a way the heart of this story. We could not tell the end of these 9 films without Leia. And we realized that we had footage from episode 7 that we realized we could use in a new way. So Carrie, as Leia, gets to be in the film.”

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker premieres in theaters December 20.

[Via Entertainment Weekly]