In the run-up to Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker arriving at the end of last year, one moment from the trailers that raised all kind of intriguing questions was a glimpse of Dark Rey – could the Sequel Trilogy’s hero really be headed for the dark side? As it turned out – SPOILER WARNING – she wasn’t, but was instead confronted with a projection of her worst fears after discovering her lineage to Emperor Palpatine. Still, Daisy Ridley cloaked in black robes proved a striking image – and now we have some more striking images, courtesy of concept artist Adam Brockbank.
On his Instagram page, Brockbank shared three pieces of concept art depicting different incarnations of Dark Rey – first up, one that featured her in a black cloak, similar to the final version used, but with some ominous shadows (or is that scarring?) on her face.
More intriguingly, a second idea for Dark Rey sees the character pulling off Kylo Ren’s helmet (no, don’t snigger), eyes blazing, in an eerie blurring of the trilogy’s yin and yang characters.
The final piece of art features Dark Rey in a gothic dark red outfit that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Snoke’s throne room.
Of course, concept art never necessarily translates directly into on-screen imagery, but it’s interesting to see what might have been – and to see which elements evolved into the final incarnation in The Rise Of Skywalker. Speaking of Episode IX, Disney recently confirmed that the film will be heading to the Disney+ streaming service two months earlier than expected, arriving on May the 4th for Star Wars day – along with the final episode of The Clone Wars and the new behind-the-scenes series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.