Fresh from the unveiling of Star Wars: Episode IX at Star Wars Celebration, fans have been left reeling not only by that title announcement – The Rise Of Skywalker – but also the trailer’s big tease: the Emperor is back. Probably. In the closing seconds of the teaser, we see Rey and the gang looking at the remains of a crashed Death Star, before a familiar, bone-chilling laugh rings out.
While J.J. Abrams confirmed to Empire that Palpatine is back, back, back in The Rise Of Skywalker, actor Ian McDiarmid revealed that his trailer appearance isn’t a new recording, but a vintage slice of Star Wars. “That particular laugh was not specially recorded,” he said on stage at Star Wars Celebration. “They found it somewhere, probably from one of the old movies or in a digital vault, or maybe George [Lucas]’s iPhone, I don’t know.”
He also confirmed that the title was kept secret from him, though he was given a heads-up that the Emperor’s laugh might feature in the first teaser. “What I liked about it though, that’s why I think it is a real tease,” he said of his ominous re-introduction. “The new title, The Rise Of Skywalker is wonderful. And then from the past, maybe from hell, a laughter comes which sort of implies, ‘Yeah, right.’ In other words, ‘Skywalkers, rising? I don’t think so!’”
Watch the first Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker trailer here, and read 11 things we learned about the film from Star Wars Celebration here.
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