There was always going to be a feeling of finality around Star Wars: Episode IX – sure, Disney is planning a future for the galaxy far, far away with new iterations from Rian Johnson and Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. But the next instalment in the sequel trilogy will mark the culmination of Rey and Ben Solo’s story – and by the sounds of it, will bookend on the Skywalker story that began back in 1977. Reiterating that fact is Oscar Isaac, aka dashing Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, who popped up on The Today Show to promote his new Netflix action-thriller Triple Frontier. While there, he spoke a little bit about the top-secret Episode IX – and he was keen to stress that this is the end of George Lucas’ epic family drama space-opera.
“It is the end of the entire Skywalker saga,” Oscar said. “Nine stories, and this is the culmination of the thing, and I think what J.J.’s done, and really the whole Lucas team, is going to be incredibly fulfilling. […] You get to learn a lot more about these characters.” He also spoke about Carrie Fisher, who will appear in the film using footage originally shot for The Force Awakens prior to her death, in order to complete General Leia’s story. “We’ve thought about her so much, her spirit’s there,” he said. “Billie Lourd, her daughter, came and played a part that she played in the last couple of films as well. So her spirit was definitely there with us.”
Elsewhere, facts about Episode IX remain in short supply. The official title is yet to be announced, Matt Smith claims he’s not actually in the film despite reports of him being cast, and we’re not likely to know much more until the Star Wars Celebration event in mid-April. All we have so far is this pic of Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Isaac himself hugging it out on set.
Enjoy that for now, and expect to find out at least something before Star Wars: Episode IX lands in cinemas this December.
Keep up to date with all the latest movie news, click here to subscribe to Empire on Great Magazines and have the latest issue delivered to your door every month.