Vanity Fair recently released new images for Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker along with revealing Keri Russell and Richard E. Grant’s characters in the film. You can check out the covers and a few of the images down below (Courtesy of Vanity Fair, author Lev Grossman, and photographer Annie Leibovitz):
Your first look at #StarWars: The Rise of Skywalker is here! Let Vanity Fair introduce you to the final chapter in the Skywalker saga. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz. Story by Lev Grossman. https://t.co/ER4XSJmZ8k pic.twitter.com/OyQKDN69eR
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 22, 2019
Here’s what we can tell you about #TheRiseofSkywalker: when the film picks up—about a year after the end of The Last Jedi—Rey, Finn, and Poe are all finally in the same place for the first time since The Force Awakens https://t.co/cbjHB1IDSd pic.twitter.com/XWqLCCbsrK
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 22, 2019
According to the Vanity Fair article, Keri Russell will play Zorri Bliss. Bliss is described as a “masked scoundrel”. As for Grant, he will portray First Order leader Allegiant General Pryde. The Knights of Ren, who were teased as Kylo’s disciples in The Force Awakens, will be making an appearance in Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
V.F. can exclusively confirm that the mysterious Knights of Ren—first seen in #StarWars: The Force Awakens—are back in #TheRiseofSkywalker https://t.co/ER4XSJmZ8k pic.twitter.com/cBrdAOrqSv
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) May 22, 2019
Despite being teased and never seen again after The Force Awakens, the Knights of Ren have been one of the more popular aspects of this trilogy. It’ll be exciting to see how they fit into Star Wars IX.
Whether you loved or hated Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it’s hard to find much to dislike here. Everyone looks fantastic, especially the Knights of Ren, and adding in a few new faces for the final piece of this sequel saga could be an excellent move for director J.J Abrams. It seems that Abrams pulled out all the stops for Star Wars IX. He attributed that to The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson in a separate interview with Vanity Fair:
“Having seen what Rian did made me approach this from a place of instinct and gut. I was making choices I knew I would not have made on VII, some story-wise, but more in terms of directing. I found myself feeling less like I’m going to try and do something that feels like it’s [only] true to the specifics of this franchise or the story.”
Many felt that Abrams played it safe with The Force Awakens so it is great to hear that he has taken more risks with The Rise of Skywalker. Let’s just hope it pans out better than The Last Jedi.
Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker is set to hit theaters on December 20th, 2019.
