Mark Hamill’s Skywalker may have died at the
end of the most recent installment but his voice
dominates the teaser trailer, telling someone,
possibly Daisy Ridley’s Rey, that, “this is your
fight now.” And audiences got a tantalizing
tease from another figure from the past:
Emperor Palpatine from the original and prequel
trilogies, whose ominous laugh closes out the
promotional spot.
Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa is back as well,
despite the actress’s untimely passing in Dec.
2016, thanks to unused footage from “The Force
Awakens” which Abrams was able to craft into its
own narrative for this new film.
“You can’t just recast and you can’t just have her
disappear,” Abrams said. “The idea of having a CG
character wasn’t even an option.”
He’s currently in the process of editing and
adding visual effects to the film which will hit
theaters on Dec. 20 and said that despite Fisher’s
death, “We’re working with her every day.”
“Princess Leia lives in this film in way that is
mind-blowing to me,” Abrams said.
Abrams was joined on stage at the event by
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and
actors and droids alike including Ridley, Oscar
Isaac (Poe), John Boyega (Finn), Kelly Marie
Tran (Rose), Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca),
newcomer Naomi Ackie, who plays a character
named Jannah, Anthony Daniels (C-3PO)
and even Billy Dee Williams, who reprises his
role as Lando Calrissian in the new film after
decades away.
“How did I find Lando again?” Williams said.
“Lando never left me.”