Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Reveals First Look at Maz Kanata

The Star Wars sequel trilogy has introduced many new players in the battle between the Light and [...]

By Joe Schmidt

The Star Wars sequel trilogy has introduced many new players in the battle between the Light and Dark sides of the Force, and many of these characters will reunite for a final confrontation in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But one of the most enigmatic characters has been largely absent in the lead up to the film, which is somewhat odd considering her prominent role after being introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But fans don't need to worry because Maz Kanata is returning for the final installment of the Skywalker Saga.

During a recent press event for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm revealed a detailed image of Lupita Nyong'o 's CGI character. Take a look below:

Nyong'o herself confirmed that she was in the movie, telling Deadline earlier this year that Maz returns for the final entry of the saga.

"I haven't seen it, I won't see it," Nyong'o explained. "They never let you see these things beforehand. Although, maybe, I don't know. Let's see how [director] J.J. [Abrams] is feeling this time... I don't know what the final thing's going to look like, but from what I saw, I am in it."

Abrams, who introduced Maz Kanata in his first Star Wars film, is returning to make The Rise of Skywalker. But he previously revealed that they had to make dramatic changes to the character's storyline during the filmmaking process on The Force Awakens.

In one particular instance, Maz was going to be shown actually wield the Force to stop a group of First Order Stormtroopers invading her castle.

"That was a scene actually filmed, but we took out," Abrams previously revealed to Entertainment Weekly. "At one point, Maz used to continue along with the characters back to the Resistance base, but we realized that she really had nothing to do there of value, except to have her sitting around…Lupita did film scenes on set for that sequence, but it felt like going right just to go left, and it was unnecessary. So we ended up leaving those things out."

We'll find out how big of a role Maz Kanata will play in the movie when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker finally premieres in theaters on Friday, December 20th.

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