The Rise of Skywalker: What the TV spots aren’t showing us

Hux and General Pryde

Hux is the petulant leader of the First Order. He is a cruel, brat of a man who cowered in fear over Snoke and now does the same for Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.

At the same time, he is scheming to overthrow him and clearly has a sick desire to lead the First Order himself. He’s been a consistent baddie in the Sequel Trilogy and it is a bit strange he hasn’t been seen hardly at all in the various trailers and TV spots for the Rise of Skywalker.

It makes one wonder if his appearance has changed since we last saw him or if his role in the final film is drastically reduced. With a huge space battle happening at the climax of this film one would think this smug leader of the First Order would be snarling commands from the flagship.

Fans would love to see him get his comeuppance in this film whether it be as a prisoner of the Resistance or death on one of his beloved Star Destroyers.

Another new face that has been scantly seen since his introduction in the final episodic film of Star Wars is General Pryde. He is played by Richard E. Grant so one would think he’d have a pretty big role.

He will likely be in cahoots with Hux and these two would seemingly share a few scenes together. The marketing for The Rise of Skywalker has been very nostalgia-driven, so maybe that’s why a couple of necessary but not exactly likable villains have been left out of the TV spots that have been raining down upon us the last week and a half.

More from Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

• How many Oscars has Star Wars won?
• Looking back at 10 years of Star Wars: The films
• Domhnall Gleeson up for returning as General Hux
• Star Wars fan’s epic poster is The Rise of Skywalker ending reimagined
• Star Wars 25 features the first post-Rise of Skywalker canon story

Luke & Leia

Luke and Leia have intentionally been left off of most of the promotional materials for The Rise of Skywalker. Other than a voice over or two and Leia shown hugging Rey, the Skywalker twins have been inconspicuously absent.

Leia does get a brief shot in a recent TV spot showing her holding the family lightsaber. Perhaps she is on the jungle planet training Rey in the ways of the Force. The brief shot creates more questions than answers though.

Luke, on the other hand, has been completely AWOL. His line about the destiny of a Jedi has been used in multiple brief ads but there has been no actual footage of him.

It is widely assumed he’ll be present as a Force ghost but this is pure speculation. If the Emperor can return in physical form it is easy to assume his counterpart in the light side could also return to his corporeal body. They haven’t shown any shot of Luke in anything other than the Vanity Fair shoots from a few months back, but there he did look to be in physical form, so who at this point really knows?

There isn’t a snowball’s chance on Mustafar that Luke will appear in any upcoming TV spots. His actual physical or spiritual form will be saved for the film’s release. We could, however, hear a new line of dialogue or two from the beloved Jedi Master before the 20th of December.

What else has been left out of the various TV spots for the Rise of Skywalker?