There were many Star Wars fans who were not entirely satisfied by the culmination of the sequel trilogy with The Rise of Skywalker, and that usually means that the same fans step up to make things right. A new fan poster for the final movie in the Skywalker Saga has imagined exactly how the movie should have ended, with the Force ghosts of Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Qui-Gon Jinn all returning to stand with Luke Skywalker to end Emperor Palpatine once and for all.
The Rise of Skywalker came while Star Wars fans were still disgruntled over the swift dispatching of Snoke in The Last Jedi after he appeared to be set up as the main villain of the sequel trilogy. Therefore the return of Emperor Palpatine, who it turns out had many clones of himself created which explained how he was previously “killed” by Darth Vader at the end of the original trilogy, seemed completely disjointed from the previous movies. While the climactic battle between Rey and Palpatine, during which Rey heard the voices of dead Jedi, was as spectacular as any duel in the Star Wars franchise, the ending just seemed to be not what people really wanted.
Now Instagram user tilian_creative has shared their alternative ending, which would have seen the collective Jedi forming an alliance in the final act of the movie to destroy Palpatine in an epic final battle. You can read the entire pitch in the post below.
The Star Wars Saga Has Had To Constantly Balance Fan Service.
The Star Wars sequels already featured a number of references and cameos, including Yoda’s ghost in The Last Jedi and the return of Han Solo in The Rise of Skywalker, and in recent times the saga has always had to walk a fine line between connected storytelling and fan-service. Having the entire collective of Force ghosts returning for one final encounter could well have fallen into the latter, and in the long run would have also meant that moments like the return of Qui-Gon Jinn in Obi-Wan Kenobi may not have been quite as impactful as they were.
Of course, including such a wealth of characters in the movie finale would have also have made a sizable dent in the movie’s budget, and taking the voice-over option certainly helped to keep the cost of the movie reasonable. It would have no doubt been a great moment to see several Force ghosts on screen at the same time, fighting alongside each other, and it might have gone some way to satisfying some of those who weren’t really on board with how the sequels turned out.
Since the release of The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm’s recent run of Star Wars series on Disney+ have certainly turned around the franchise from the disappointment felt about the sequels, with The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi in particular being widely well received. With the studio now looking to return to theaters soon, the question is whether the run of success can continue and for how long.