Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is only a few weeks away. Excitement is at an all-time high and I’m hyperventilating already. Much of the film’s plot is still shrouded in mystery — JJ Abrams is known to keep things very close to the vest. Once again the pressure is on the director’s shoulder, as it was in The Force Awakens, to deliver a film that will bridge the gap between the broken fandom.
We know that we’re getting new characters in addition to the ones we already love. But what else? Well, it looks like we might be getting some cool new Force powers as well. In an interview with Vanity Fair, director JJ Abrams mentioned that we can expect never before seen Force abilities in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
It was really important that we not just redo the things you’ve seen, but add new elements—which we knew will infuriate some people and thrill others. Among those things are not just new ways of doing sort of traditional, must-have sequences, whether it’s chases or lightsaber battles, or what have you. We wanted to make sure that this picture also showed aspects of the Force in ways that go beyond what you’ve seen before.
Abrams is spot on. There is no doubt that the new Force powers will infuriate some and thrill others. One example that comes to mind is the Force projection across the galaxy as seen in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi.
While Abrams didn’t let anything slip as far as what those Force powers are exactly, he did talk about the responsibilities of adding on to the Star Wars mythology.
I can’t speak to what it means about the future of Star Wars, but what I can say is that you don’t want to come to this movie to see everything you’ve seen before… you want to make sure that you’re bringing elements that feel like it’s expanding the story, even as this brings it to a close.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set to hit cinemas this 19 December.
