Rey With A Double Lightsaber!? That RISE OF SKYWALKER D23 Footage Is Here

You probably already heard about it. At this weekend’s D23 event, they showed footage from Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker that included a shot of Rey in red robes unveiling a lightsaber hinged in the middle so it could extend into a Maul-like double lightsaber. There’s more to it (you have to wait for a back-pat of eight other films first, though), which you can see below.

Now, let’s put aside the other new shots from Rise of Skywalker and talk about this big money moment. Because that’s exactly what it is. My man JJ knows exactly how to get folks talking. If you think for one second this is a movie where Rey turns evil, I have a Star Bridge to sell you.

I keep looking at it, trying to figure out why it looks so strange. I suppose it’s a dark room with her face illuminated by a saber, but I feel like we’ve seen that before without people looking like Pin·Bot. It might be too obvious to call this a dream sequence at this point, but I have to admit I’m leaning somewhere in that realm. And don’t even get me started about how goofy the idea of that lightsaber is when unextended.

But hey, there are a bunch of other amazing shots to admire. One of the more interesting things about Rise of Skywalker is we really have no idea what its story is. We know the elements at play (Rey/Ren’s conflict will resolve, the Emperor is back) but the overall plot is still pretty mysterious. Right now it’s being sold as More Star Wars! And maybe that’s all it needs to be.

In any case, we’ll be there along with the rest of you this December. None of us really have any choice in the matter, anyway. These movies own us.