A new rumor claims to know the opening scene of The Rise of Skywalker. And if this rings true, it won't be like anything we've seen in the previous movies. The original opens with a space chase and the capture of Princess Leia. The crawl drops us into deep space, and that has become standard for the franchise. While perhaps we'll get a crawl that slowly fades into this galaxy far, far away, it has supposedly been leaked that things will kick off with a lightsaber battle this time around.
We're still a few weeks out from seeing the second The Rise of Skywalker trailer, which follows the first teaser and a special video preview that dropped shortly after Disney's D23 Expo. Many suspect the next trailer will arrive during the final stretch of the World Series. We'll get a few more reveals this October 4, when Triple Force Friday brings new Star Wars merchandise to store shelves around the world. Today, we'll have to settle for this unconfirmed leak that involves digital de-aging two fan-favorite characters.
According to these unsubstantiated reports, we will get the iconic crawl against a star system. This will lead us to an opening scene that serves as a flashback, as Luke and Leia spar with lightsabers. As the camera moves through the trees of a forest landscape, fans will notice a familiar blue lightsaber striking against an iconic green blade. They are held by two as yet unidentified Jedi in training helmets.
The big reveal comes. It is Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher de-aged, as we've seen in previous movies, such as Rogue One bringing back Princess Leia and The Last Jedi giving us Luke Skywalker flashbacks. The two actors are said to look identical to the way they did in Return of the Jedi.
Leia is said to be pregnant with her first and only son (as far as we know) Kylo Ren. This opening flashback will be taking place sometime after Return of the Jedi, before the birth of Ben Solo and before Luke's Jedi exile. Apparently, the younger Luke is teaching his sister how to be a Jedi. It has previously been reported that Leia will ditch her Jedi training to become a full-time mother to the future Supreme Leader.
It is further rumored that this training montage will cut to Rey, who is continuing her Jedi training alongside Leia. We know Rey will be doing further Jedi training from the most recent footage, which shows Rey throwing her lightsaber through a forest. As the blade cuts through trees, eagle-eyed fans will notice it is chasing a Marksman-H combat remote, as seen in A New Hope, when Luke is training for the first time with Obi-Wan Kenobi on the Millennium Falcon. In the most recent footage, we also see Leia standing, looking on, appearing to be set against the same forest backdrop as Rey.
The fact that we may see a de-aged Leia in the opening moments of The Rise of Skywalker is a little suspect, as we've been promised numerous times that we wouldn't be seeing a fully-digital Leia in this final Skywalker saga sequel, with director J.J. Abrams using preexisting footage shot for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. To de-age Carrie Fisher in this way would mean bringing in a younger actor to fill the role.
There seems to be conflicting information. One side claims Carrie Fisher is not utilized in this sequel very much, while other sources say she is actually in the movie quite a bit. It is noted that Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd, who plays her own character in the saga, stepped into fill for her mother when needed.
The initial report claims that this opening scene could change, and be placed later in the movie. You can take a look at the two official images that coincide with this rumor. This news comes from Making Star Wars.
