Warning: Potential Spoilers Ahead!
Disney and Lucasfilm ultimately have to make money. Therefore, despite their tightly sealed vault of secrets, their toys tend to reveal a lot about their upcoming movies. Here’s what the newly released figures and toys have to say about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
C-3PO’s New Weapon & Chewbacca’s Potential Death
Although we’ve never really seen the fussy droid in the center of the action, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of C-3PO in The Rise of Skywalker. In fact, check out his new weapon and friend!
Hasbro’s Black Series C-3PO action figure is battle-ready and holding a bowcaster. Although we’ve never seen him with this weapon before, we have seen someone else wielding it – this bowcaster looks very similar to Chewie’s iconic bandolier.
If this is in fact Chewie’s weapon, what happened to the big guy? There are many theories circulating around the internet that seem to suggest Chewbacca will not make it out of The Rise of Skywalker alive. A leaked concept art description portrays a fight between Rey, Poe, Finn, and Lando Calrissian against Palpatine’s new Sith Troopers in order to protect the Millennium Falcon. According to the description, Chewbacca steps in, using his bowcaster to fight off some troopers and protect the team. He tells Rey to duck as a Sith Trooper throws an explosive that knocks Chewbacca onto the ground. After seeing their teammate down, the rest of the crew take the big guy back to the Falcon, where Rey rests her head on Chewbacca’s chest, shedding tears.
Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean the death of Chewbacca, but if the leak is true, it isn’t looking good. Regardless of whether Chewbacca is down for the count or down for good, the scene would also explain why this Hasbro figure of C-3PO comes with a bowcaster.
The Hasbro figure also comes with a little friend, Babu Frik. Babu Frik has been described as the droidsmith who created the newest droid, D-O. However, his descriptions also say that he can “reprogram or modify any droid, regardless of its security measures”.
Now, the only other time we’ve seen C-3PO fight was when he had his head switched with a battle droid. So, could Babu Frik be the one to turn the droid into a fighter? We do see him working on C-3PO’s head in the Rise of Skywalker trailer.
Another theory suggests that Babu is actually reprogramming C-3PO in order to help him obtain old information to defeat Palpatine. However, this reboot is apparently going to make him lose the memory of his friends; hence, why he says “Taking one last look sir, at my friends” in the final The Rise of Skywalker trailer.
Kylo Ren Has a New Helmet & a New Title
As was teased in the D23 special footage, this Hasbro toy shows that Kylo Ren is expected to repair and wear his grandfather’s old helmet in The Rise of Skywalker. However, if you look closely at the box, you’ll also notice that he’ll have a new name and title going into the movie. With the death of Supreme Leader Snoke, it looks like we’ll see Kylo Ren stepping up to take his place as Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.
A New Lovable Droid
BB-8 was a massive moneymaker for Disney and Hasbro. Therefore, the two companies are now looking to bank on another new and cute droid. D-O was revealed during Star Wars Celebration in Chicago as a fully operational droid full of immense cuteness.
According to some of the droid’s toy box descriptions, D-O was cobbled from odds and ends in the workshop of Babu Frick – a diminutive Anzellan who worked as a droidsmith during the war between the First Order and the Resistance. As an excitable little robot, D-O eventually became friends with the all-too-lovable BB-8 after the Battle of Crait and wanted to be just like him.
We see D-O with BB-8 in the final trailer for The Rise of Skywalker so we can probably expect to see him helping the Resistance in the film.
A New Ally of the Resistance
The Resistance needs all the help they can get, and it looks like a new fighter will emerge in The Rise of Skywalker. Hasbro’s new Star Wars toy line introduced Jannah, a fierce and strong fighter from Kef Bir. According to the back of Jannah’s toy box, she is from an oceanic moon and “leads a band of warriors, ready to charge against the forces of the First Order.” With her energy bow and fearless skills, the Resistance will have a fighting chance against the First Order.
Although we don’t know much more about Jannah, we do know that she will be played by Naomi Ackie in The Rise of Skywalker. While describing her character, Ackie said:
“Jannah is a warrior, and she comes into contact with the rest of the group at a point where they need some help. She is part of the Resistance, and she’s spent a long time acquiring skills that might be helpful when it comes to the big conclusion of the film. So she shows up at the right time.”
A New Mystery Character
As usual, LEGO released another Millennium Falcon set for The Rise of Skywalker. Some of the characters that come with the set include Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, Finn, R2-D2, D-O, and an unknown creature named Boolio. There is nothing known about Boolio except that he’s a male character created for The Rise of Skywalker. However, if he’s depicted as being part of the team on-board the Millennium Falcon, we can expect him to play a big role in the upcoming movie.
BB-8 Might Get Damaged
Being such a huge moneymaker for Disney, BB-8 has been made into a bunch of new toys for The Rise of Skywalker. However, if you take a look at the latest BB-8 Funko, you’ll notice that he’s missing a panel. This could mean that BB-8 gets into a scuffle in The Rise of Skywalker and for some reason, ends up damaged.
Kylo Ren Gets Some Backup
It looks like Kylo Ren is getting some help this time around from some new and old faces. LEGO’s Kylo Ren’s Shuttle comes with six mini LEGO figures including Kylo Ren, General Pryde, a Sith Trooper, a First Order Stormtrooper, and the Knights of Ren. You may remember the Knights of Ren as the mysterious force-wielders that were neither Jedi Knights nor Sith Lords, but came about after the demise of the last Sith Lords. They served as Kylo Ren’s servants after the slaughtering of Luke Skywalker’s apprentices. Now, it looks like they will once again play a big role in the upcoming film, fighting right alongside Kylo Ren.
New Stormtroopers known as Sith Troopers will also apparently join the fight. The toy versions of these troopers are dressed from head-to-toe in red and seem to have jet packs on their back. Therefore, we could potentially see them taking flight in The Rise of Skywalker.
A New Character Rescues Poe Dameron
A new character that seems to be popping up in a couple of Hasbro and LEGO toys is a woman named Zorii Bliss. She appears in a LEGO set with a Resistance Y-wing Starfighter alongside Poe Dameron, a turquoise astromech droid, and D-O. According to the description, LEGO builders must “fly in under the radar and pull the trigger to help Zorii Bliss release the bombs. Send the First Order Snowtroopers scrambling for cover and then rescue Poe Dameron, D-O, and the Astromech Droid”. Therefore, it seems as though Bliss will go on a high-intensity rescue mission in The Rise of Skywalker to save Poe from the First Order.
According to Hasbro’s toy description, Zorii Bliss is the leader of the Spice Runners of Kijimi. It became “difficult for scoundrels to remain neutral in the war between First Order and Resistance, and Zorii Bliss and the Spice Runners of Kijimi must soon take a side”. As Bliss has a past connection to Poe Dameron, it seems as though she decides to take the side of the Resistance. You can even catch a glimpse of her in the final Rise of Skywalker trailer, standing next to Poe as C-3PO takes “one last look” at his friends.
……………….
Have you uncovered any other secrets about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker? Leave your thoughts in the comments!