Does The Rise of Skywalker Mark an End for Every Character Involved?

J.J. Abrams, the director of one of the year’s most anticipated films,Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, must be starting to feel the pressure. Not only does the film follow the divisiveThe Last Jedi, but it also has the unenviable task of bringing the decade-spanning series to a satisfying conclusion. Well, according to the man himself,The Rise of Skywalkercertainly feels like an ending.

“I felt going into this, even on [Episode] VII - I don’t remember if this was discussed or not, but it felt likethis was the final trilogy. It felt like it earned being the conclusion of that story. Who’s to say what comes next? Is there something else to be done that involves any of these characters? I’m working on nothing [Star Wars-related], so I’m not hinting at anything. I’m just saying, who’s to know, but it just felt like the end.”

Though the director does not recall whetherThe Rise of Skywalkerbeing the ending was actually discussed, which seems a little odd, we can at least take some relief in the fact that that is how he approached it. He does also clarify that he is not working on anything himself, but does not completely rule out that things may be going on without his knowledge, involving thecharacters he introduced to the Star Wars universe.

Despite initially being slightly flakey in his commitment toThe Rise of Skywalkerbeing an ending to the saga, Abrams did double down on his personal approach to making the film as an ending.

“It’s an ending. It’s not a beginning. It’s the end of not just one trilogy but three. It’s a far larger movie in terms of scale. Narratively, there’s much more going on everywhere I look - visual effects, more moving pieces. It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever been involved in. By a lot. It’s been breakneck from the time that Kathy called me, and trying to figure out the what and the why and the how has been challenging. But you don’t want to go thinking, ‘I got this.’ Because then you’re screwed.”

Hopefully, Abrams has stuck the landing and will not end up being ‘screwed’ as he puts it, especially considering he was never supposed to direct the film in the first place. Stepping in when the film’s original directorColin Trevorrow walked awaydue to the very vague ‘creative differences’, Abrams took on the project and reworked it from the ground up. Though Trevorrow will receive a writing credit, rumours and speculation suggest that Abrams took the film almost back to square one.

WithThe Rise of Skywalkerdue for release on December 19, we will soon see for ourselves how much of an ending it really is. This news comes courtesy ofThe Rolling Stone.