New Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Poster Reveals Rey v Kylo-Ren Duel

This past weekend’s Disney’s D23 Expo revealed a bounty hunter’s haul of fresh Star Wars information. We got The Mandalorian‘s first trailer and a batch of photos. Now we’ve got our first look at a brand new poster for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which gives us Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo-Ren (Adam Driver) engaged in a lightsaber duel. Lording above them, as big as a planet, is none other than Emperor Palpatine, the grand mover and master Sith Lord who was supposed to have been killed by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. He’s back, and that spells trouble for the Resistance.

Check out the full poster here:

Co-writer and director J.J. Abrams was on hand at D23 to discuss The Rise of Skywalker, and gifted those in attendance in Anaheim with a short sizzle reel that first looked back on the older trilogies, ultimately building to his Skywalker Saga-ending film. This is when the new footage began, and we’re hoping we’ll be able to share it with you when it drops online at some point.

The footage reveals our heroes (Rey, John Boyega’s Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, Chewie, BB-8, D-O, C-3P0) looking over a grand bazaar in the desert. Here’s that shot:

Then there’s a shot of Resistance starships coming out of hyperspace together. We meet Naomie Ackie’s character, Jannah, who is in one of those ships. This is when she sees a huge phalanx of Star Destroyers—dozens—appearing on the horizon. Trouble looms.

The new footage included some sweet lightsaber action (Rey’s learned a few tricks since The Last Jedi), including her throwing it like a boomerang and getting it back (!!). There’s also a lightsaber duel between Rey and Kylo-Ren on the top of a ship, now immortalized in the new poster. Then comes the real money shot—a dark hooded figure holding two red lightsabers. This figure looks for all the world like a Sith Lord—it’s Rey. That goosed the audience at the Expo, and will likely give millions more a lot to think about when the footage is released on the internet.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20, 2019.

Featured image: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Poster. Courtesy Walt Disney Studios