Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker's Daisy Ridley responds to Rey's dark turn in new footage

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had a massive surprise in store for fans at D23 in the form of new footage.

It wasn't yet a new trailer, but the teaser that mainly looked back at the legacy of the series ended with a dark twist: Rey wielding a Darth Maul-esque dual lightsaber while wearing a black cloak. Has she gone to the Dark Side?

Talking to Variety, Daisy Ridley responded to the surprise scene and while she didn't confirm or deny anything, she did explain why it makes sense.

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"I think it's, weirdly, the most human thing because everybody struggles. Everybody has the things of like, 'One thing's pulling me this way, one thing's pulling me this way, what's this journey gonna be and where am I gonna end up?'. So it's fun to play that," she said.

Given that the footage (and new poster) teased an epic clash between Rey and Kylo Ren, we have a feeling all is not as it seems. But maybe it'll be Kylo on the Light Side by the end of Rise of Skywalker?

At least we only have a few more months until we find out for sure.

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Earlier this month, the runtime of the climactic chapter in the Skywalker Saga was hinted at by the brother of legendary composer John Williams.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released on December 19 in the UK and December 20 in the US.

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Ian Sandwell

Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.