Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Never Planned for More Than Two Force Ghosts

As fate would have it, fans of the Star Wars franchise ended up being treated to an appearance by Force Ghosts at one pivotal scene in The Rise of Skywalker’s closing moments. The scene only featured two characters, leading some to question whether or not more were ever supposed to be included. According to VFX supervisor Roger Guyett, there were never plans to include any characters other than the two that popped up on-screen in the theatrical release. Light spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker up ahead!

In the final scene of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey (Daisy Ridley) returns to Tatooine to bury the lightsabers of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). It’s there, the Force Ghosts of both characters appear to give their silent approval to the new Jedi. Speaking with Yahoo!, Guyett says his interpretation of the scene is “that when you see Luke and Leia there, it’s about the Skywalker [legacy].”

Fans had been questioning the moment, hoping to see Ben Solo (Adam Driver) appear as a Force Ghost after sacrificing himself to restore life to Rey. Moments earlier, Rey had heard the voices of nearly a dozen Jedi throughout the years, including Anakin skywalker (Hayden Christensen), Yoda (Frank Oz) Mace Windu (Samuel L Jackson), and even Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). But, the characters were only present in voice, not as Force Ghosts or the like.

In December, The Rise of Skywalker screenwriter Chris Terrio revealed the team talked at length regarding which characters should be popping up at the end. “We absolutely discussed who would be there at the end,” Terrio told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s not as though those Force ghosts will never appear to Rey now that she really is the first of the new Jedi. I think she has all of those Jedi behind her.”

He added, “This might be in the novelization, but we talked a lot about how Leia lost her home. Alderaan is gone. So, she could never take Luke to see where she grew up as a princess, but Luke could’ve taken Leia to see where he grew up as a farmer. But, the twins never got to Tatooine together. So, the idea of seeing the twins together after the sabers are laid to rest felt like it was something that was very moving to me and J.J.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now in theaters.

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