Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Opening Scene Originally Featured Hux and Pryde With Kylo Ren

In the opening scene of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, audiences witnessed Kylo Ren enthralled in an intense battle on an unidentified planet, with stars Domhnall Gleeson and Richard E. Grant recently confirming that the sequence originally saw their characters General Hux and General Pryde joining the villain for the scene. It’s unclear what their role in the sequence would have been, as the theatrical cut of the film merely saw Kylo mowing down unidentified villains as he sought the Sith wayfinder, though the actors noted that the extended scene could ultimately appear on the film’s home video release.

“The one time we weren’t in the studio, it got cut,” Gleeson confirmed with Kinowetter. The actor didn’t specifically identify the scene in question, with Grant’s clues about the sequence essentially confirming the scene.

Grant added, “Yes, one time, we were in a battle scene, in a forest with Kylo Ren. Our bits got cut out, so we’ll have to wait for those on the extras.”

The Rise of Skywalker didn’t waste any time getting to the action, as the first scene after the opening crawl saw Kylo in combat, taking on more than a dozen figures all by himself. With this being the only scene in the movie where we saw Kylo engage in close-quarters combat in a forest setting, it would seem as though Grant was referring to this opening, yet it’s unclear if their contributions would have taken place before our after the brutal encounter.

Hux and Pryde aren’t the only things missing from this opening scene, as audiences never knew that this planet was Mustafar, where Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi had their fateful showdown decades earlier, before Darth Vader went on to construct a facility on the pivotal locale. Details about the planet were, instead, revealed in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary.

The book described, “Kylo soon outpaces his stormtrooper escorts as he cuts a swath of destruction through the Alazmec who attempt to block his path to Vader’s castle — or rather, its crumbling ruins. Kylo enters the castle grounds with purpose, and finds an ark containing an artifact that will lead him to answers.”

One reason fans didn’t recognize the planet was due to it previously being covered in lava, with the book also confirming the Alazmec “planted a thin forest of irontrees … in a futile attempt to reinvigorate the glen that covered the land centuries earlier.”

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

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