Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Stars Tease Rey's Turn to the Dark Side

When Lucasfilm descended upon Hall D23 for the D23 Expo today, fans were stunned by the teases in the sizzle reel featured for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Not only was Emperor Palpatine confirmed to return earlier in the year, but now it looks like that he might turn Rey to the Dark Side.

The actors in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker spoke with IGN after the event, shedding new details about Rey's turn, clad in black and wielding red lightsabers. And, surprisingly, Daisy Ridley revealed that Rey's supposed turn will bring the series full circle.

"I think that it should hopefully show people that we did a big old journey and we explored some things," explained Ridley. "So just you wait until the film."

Kelly Marie Tran, who is reprising her role as Rose Tico in the film, added that the movie is respectful of the previous movies in the Star Wars saga.

"I think the most important thing to take from that whole snippet is just that the ending of this whole film is going to be really, really groundbreaking, in a good way." said Tran. "I think there are a lot of little pieces from the older films and everyone's together in this one. We're gonna go out with a bang."

Newcomer Naomi Ackie added that the film serves as a fitting conclusion in bringing up the themes that are prevalent in the franchise.

"When I had the privilege of reading the script, I cried. I think it reaches and tries to ask a question that we need to answer in ourselves. I'm super excited for people to see that."

The heroes in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will have to deal with the returning threat of Emperor Palpatine, though there are still questions over how the character will return after being thrown to his death in Return of the Jedi.

Ridley went on to add that there's a reason why the villain comes back in the final film of the saga.

"He's the biggest baddie in Star Wars history. Now that we've done the story, I'm like, it couldn't have happened any other way," Ridley said. "It had to be that. But he's very instrumental to the plot of the film. It's not just like he appears again; it's all explained."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres in theaters on December 20th.