Despite the film ending the utterly iconic Star Wars saga, Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker was critically panned by reviewers and consumers alike. Many saw it as a rushed, lackluster, and forced final entry to the franchise, with some extreme Star Wars fans even calling for the film to be struck from canon and for JJ Abrams to start over. It seems, however, there were originally a number of different ideas for the film that have recently been unveiled in the title's official artbook.
With some brand new characters, plotlines, and even a giant BB-8 tank, the artbook shows off a number of interesting different avenues Rise of Skywalker might've taken if plans had remained the same throughout production. Naturally, there's a lot of intriguing plot points unveiled within the book, with some fans even suggesting that Disney shouldn't have left them on the cutting room floor.
One of the biggest characters to not make his way into the climactic Star Wars adventure was Finn's long-lost brother, who, according to the book, would've been integral in the fall of the First Order. According to the reveal, the character would've been stranded on a planet consisting of garbage, with his presence in the film seeing him impart a piece of information crucial to defeating Kylo Ren and his armies. Finn and Poe were also meant to go on a mission to a snowy planet - which eventually became the location Kimji instead - in search of an encryption device. The two's mission would've been prevented when Storm Troopers invaded a bar, presumably leading to an action set-piece.
A number of scrapped ideas also seemingly saw Poe embark on a solo mission, with one concept seeing the character navigating a swampy planet with a band of pirates, while another had him be captured by a gang he was once affiliated with. A character designed to originally guide Kylo Ren towards Exegol is also shown. He was supposedly known as the Oracle, and was envisioned as a skinless, spider-like creature that would talk to Kylo in a swamp setting. According to a creature creator who worked on the film, the character was cut to save time explaining how Ren made his way to Exegol at the beginning of the movie.
The concept art also includes a drawing of a giant tank shaped like BB-8, which is a hilariously ludicrous image in its own right. It seems the artist behind the picture claimed that it was never an idea that was being taken entirely seriously, however, it no doubt an interesting vision nonetheless, especially as BB-8 is one of the franchise's most adorable and entirely innocuous characters.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is out now.
Source: Polygon