During a panel at the Star Wars Celebration event in Chicago, the first trailer was released for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. (Oh yeah, they released the title too.)
The two minute teaser features our first glimpse of Lando Calrissian, with 82-year-old Billy Dee Williams reprising his role from Return of the Jedi. (But unfortunately he doesn't slam a Colt 45.) The footage also teases a broken Death Star, Emperor Palpatine's laugh, an intense confrontation between Rey and Kylo Ren, and an emotional scene with Princess Leia, played by the late Carrie Fischer.
The movie is directed by J.J. Abrams, who also directed Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. After George Lucas' creative but cringeworthy 2000's prequel trilogy, TFA was hailed as a return to form. It brought back beloved characters from the classic trilogy, played by the original actors, plus introduced a new cast of captivating characters, with Rey, Poe, Finn and Kylo Renn. (Although TFA caught some criticism for being pretty similar to the first Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope.)
The previous entry, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, was directed by Rian Johnson, who strove to do something fresh with the franchise and subvert viewer expectations. The movie made a ton of money, as usual, but was surprisingly polarizing with viewers. Some fans loved the Marvelesque humor, adorable Porgs and subversive plot twists, while others hated Luke Skywalker's arc, thought the Casino Planet trip was tangential, and and wondered why Purple Hair Lady didn't just tell Poe her plan.
Here's some responses to the Episode IX trailer from Twitter. People are pretty psyched about Palpatine's laugh.
Episode IX is intended to be the last entry in the 'Skywalker story,' although the Star Wars franchise will continue through endless spin-off movies and TV shows. Personally, I'm a bit annoyed that Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fischer and Billy Dee Williams returned for the sequel trilogy, but didn't have any real scenes together. Oh well. At least there's no Jar Jar Binks, Jr!