It was an interesting day for  Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams and stars Daisy RidleyJohn Boyega, and Oscar Isaac on Saturday because the Star Wars quartet made an appearance at CCXP 2019. While it was fun to see the foursome presenting a clip from Rise of Skywalker, basking in the love from fans in the audience, and answering different questions about their time working on the movie, for a majority of their visit it felt like no new news related to hints about what to expect would be revealed.

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Image via Lucasfilm/Disney

Then, Abrams piped up to address the role of the Force in Rise of Skywalker during a group interview after the Star Wars CCXP panel. About halfway through the group interview, one CCXP moderator asked if the Force will finally find balance in Rise of Skywalker. Given the fact this movie will be the final installment in the long-running Skywalker saga and one of the biggest questions and objectives (well, it's an objective for the Jedis, at least) has been to find a way to restore balance to the Force so light and dark are harmonious, the question was a big one. Abrams navigated the answer well, touching on just how important the Force will be and how it's been made a central aspect of the Rise of Skywalker story.

You're asking a very important question. It's something that we talked about quite a bit in the development of the story. The balance of the Force frankly, like the balance of anything, is hard fought and must be maintained. It's not something that happens and then is a permanent thing; you cannot take that for granted. So, the story of balance is an ongoing, evolving story.

The mention of restoring balance being "hard fought" definitely raises my eyebrows here and I'm curious to know if there is any deeper meaning here. We know a big battle is coming between the Resistance and the First Order and there will be another battle between Rey, now a Jedi and Resistance member, and Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren and very much on the Dark side of the Force. The stakes have never been higher to bring peace to the galaxy and restore balance to the Force. Just knowing it will be pivotal to the story and has been considered carefully by Abrams and his team makes it all the more clear Rise of Skywalker is going to be an unmissable movie.

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters on December 20, 2019. For more on this highly-anticipated movie, check out a recent featurette on the Star Wars cast friendships.