Vanity Fair Shares an Exclusive First Look at 'The Rise of Skywalker'

With The Rise of Skywalker only seven months away, Vanity Fair released the covers for their special Star Wars issue this morning, along with an inside scoop with details from the anticipated film. From Kylo Ren’s internal struggle to honoring Carrie Fisher in the film, there’s a lot of new information to unpack.

Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey battle it out with lightsabers. — Courtesy of Vanity Fair

The covers feature two stunning photos of the main characters of the upcoming film, Kylo Ren and Rey. At first it looks like they’re separate photos, but when put side to side, it’s clear that it’s one picture and the two seem to be looking at each other. Vanity Fair delves deep into this popular relationship, Reylo, calling them “star-crossed lovers” and revealing a teaser of what’s to come for the two.

“Their relationship is the closest thing the new trilogy has to a star-crossed love story on the order of Han and Leia: a source close to the movie says that their Force-connection will turn out to run even deeper than we thought”

-Lev Grossman, Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair also revealed some exclusive photos of The Knights of Ren on set, who have been speculated about ever since Rey’s force vision of them in The Force Awakens. Before revoking their statement, Vanity Fair revealed that Kylo is indeed “mowing down” Knights of Ren in the red forest scene of the Episode IX trailer. They have since corrected and redacted their statement, but it seems that these actions were taken to possibly cover up a spoiler.

J.J. Abrams, alongside Stunt Coordinator Eunice Huthart, and the Knights of Ren. — “Knights of Ren”, Courtesy of Vanity Fair

Wait Kylo is killing the KOR in the trailer???? #TheRiseOfSkywalker pic.twitter.com/Vn2pMUAS4c

— Riri (@Riri19911) May 22, 2019

Along with the ‘will they or won’t they’ debate about Reylo, Kylo Ren, or formally known as Ben Solo, is discussed in the article leaving fans wondering if he will be redeemed or not. If Kylo really is taking down Knights of Ren in the trailer, there’s a high probability he will get some sort of redemption arc, whether that includes death or not, we’ll just have to see. Grossman interviewed Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) and he revealed his thoughts on his complicated character.

“If you were the product of those two people [Han and Leia], two very strong personalities who seemed to be almost more committed to a cause than anything else, what’s that like? How do you form friendships out of that? How do you understand the weight of that? . . . It can easily go awry.”

-Adam Driver

Since day one, this trilogy has been as much about Kylo as it has been about Rey and it’ll really be interesting to see where this final film takes them whether it be romantic, friendly or as enemies. They’re two sides of the same coin and there’s no denying the connection between them, I guess it’s all up to Kylo to decide if he’s going to come to the light side or not.

The article also includes an interview with J.J. Abrams who reveals how they carried on the late Carrie Fisher’s legacy as Leia by writing around the old footage they had of her. He previously revealed at Star Wars Celebration Chicago that they absolutely did not want to use CGI, which I think was a good move on his part. It’s truly a gift that we get to say one last goodbye to Carrie and Leia with this new footage.

Composer John Williams conducting the Star Wars score. — John Williams composing ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, Courtesy of Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair also shared new photos of C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), Finn (John Boyega) and Rey (Daisy Ridley) during filming at Jordan’s Wadi Rum desert. Fans had previously predicted that they were on Jakku or Tatooine due to the sandy setting, but those rumors were put to rest today as it was confirmed that they were on the planet of Pasaana, a planet they haven’t visited in the films yet. C-3PO, who has been in every single Skywalker Series film, is rumored to have a pretty big part in this next installment.

They also shared photos of Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Richard E. Grant’s new character, General Pryde. As well as a photo of Poe (Oscar Isaac), Chewbacca, BB-8, D-O and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) in the Millenium Falcon and Finn and Jannah (Naomi Ackie) on space horses.

General Hux Allegiant General Pryde on the bridge of Kylo Rens destroyer. — Courtesy of Vanity Fair

Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian and Oscar Isaac Poe Dameron with Chewbacca DO and BB8. — Courtesy of Vanity Fair

Finn and new ally Jannah atop hardy orbaks. — Courtesy of Vanity Fair

If you want to pick up a physical copy of this exciting, exclusive story on The Rise of Skywalker by Vanity Fair they will be releasing it on “newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on May 30, and nationally on June 4” (Vanity Fair).

About Post Author

Kaila Spencer

Kaila Spencer is a full time student studying communications. She’s a huge fan of Disney and Marvel, but especially Star Wars. She loves going to cons and cosplaying her favorite characters, which you can find on her Instagram and Twitter @idkaila. She also hosts a female perspective podcast on all things nerdy with two other women of color called SHE-3PO.

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