At long last, we now know the Star Wars 9 title. No, it’s not The Last Hope. And no, it’s not The Knights of Ren. It’s something that’s actually quite a bit more loaded than either of those: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
This title carries with it a number of different connotations, depending on how you take it. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) bit the dust at the end of The Last Jedi, and while we know Hamill is back for Star Wars 9, it’d be a little out there for the film to revolve around his Force Ghost taking revenge. Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren is a Skywalker—the son of Han and Leia—but he’s technically the “bad guy” of this new trilogy, though not beyond redemption. So then that leaves Rey, who many pegged as a secret Skywalker after The Force Awakens, but whose parents are revealed to be nobodies in The Last Jedi. Or so we think.
So with the Star Wars 9 title now known to the world, let’s break down what it might be alluding to at this very early stage. Here, we explain what Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker might mean.
1. J.J. Abrams Is Retconning ‘The Last Jedi’
One very real possibility with regards to the title is that it’s alluding to Rey, who may turn out to be a secret Skywalker after all. In a major turning point in writer/director Rian Johnson’s excellent Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) tells Rey (Daisy Ridley) that her parents were nobodies, a notion she too seems to have always known deep down. This hammers home the theme of The Last Jedi that anyone can be a hero—you don’t have to be derived from noble blood to step up and save the day, nor is your path predestined. You can make your own way and save the galaxy, even if your parents were no-good junkers.
However, some Star Wars fans balked at this notion, instead yearning for more of a closed loop scenario in which Rey and Kylo turn out to be siblings. If The Rise of Skywalker is alluding to Rey—who is front and center in the teaser trailer as this film’s central protagonist—it means Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio are using Episode IX as a way of “fixing” answers in The Last Jedi that some fans had qualms with. As someone who loves The Last Jedi, I would be very Mad Online™ about this. The reveal that Rey’s parents are nobodies is a terrific example of story serving theme, and to undo that is to undo the thematic consistency that makes The Last Jedi so compelling.
Then again, would Abrams be so bold as to undo The Last Jedi’s revelation? Would Lucasfilm allow him to? While I won’t rule out the possibility that Episode IX makes Rey a Skywalker, I also have a hard time believing that’s actually what’s happened.
2. Kylo Ren Finds Redemption
Another possible answer for the Star Wars 9 title is Kylo Ren’s redemption. While Ren was set up as the villain of The Force Awakens, he has pretty consistently been a sympathetic character. He’s the son of Han Solo and Leia who acted out in a petulant way, got roped into the wrong crowd, and committed patricide—you know, basic teen rebellion stuff. Adam Driver’s performance is full of wonderful contradictions and emotional turmoil, so it’s possible that the title of Episode IX alludes to an actual redemption for Ben Solo. We almost got it in The Last Jedi, but ultimately Kylo Ren decided to turn away from both the light and the dark, creating a new world order that he himself would oversee.
But if the only living son of Ben and Leia finds his way back to the light, with Luke Skywalker now dead, the Skywalker name could “rise” again, and just like in Return of the Jedi, this trilogy’s villain could turn himself around before the credits roll.
3. Skywalker Is More Than a Name
Perhaps the title isn’t actually alluding to a surname, but something larger. Rey—who, on face value, is an orphan from Jakku—trained under Luke Skywalker throughout The Last Jedi (albeit after reluctance on his part) and gained immense force powers by the end of that movie. The teaser trailer for Star Wars 9 finds Luke Skywalker voiceover telling Rey that she’s on her own, that it’s her fight now. He’s quite literally passed the baton in the form of his lightsaber, so perhaps “The Rise of Skywalker” simply means living up to the ideal set by the Skywalker family—by Luke and Leia—while not necessarily being a “Skywalker.” Keep in mind that The Last Jedi’s final scene was of a young boy playing with toys after having heard the tale of Luke Skywalker’s faceoff against Kylo Ren. The myth lives on, even if the man does not.
4. Luke Rises from the Dead for Some Force Ghost Revenge and Funtimes
Or, if we take the title literally, maybe Luke Skywalker just rises from the dead and lays waste to these fools. Force Ghost Luke could be joined by his dad Force Ghost Anakin for some Force Ghost funtimes. The Skywalkers literally rise, take care of business, and the rest of the movie is Rey, Poe, and Finn chilling by the beach, sipping space margaritas.
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