New Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concept art shows a set-piece that didn’t make the finished product – and arguably shows Rey at her most powerful.
Film concept artist Adam Brockbank shared the artwork on Instagram, revealing a scene that shows Rey using the Force sweeping back dozens upon dozens of First Order stormtroopers. The caption simply reads: “An early concept demonstrating Rey’s power, on a scorched planet.”
It’s hard to pinpoint where exactly this would have landed in Rise of Skywalker, but it’s perhaps the best example (outside of Rey taking down a ship on Pasaana) of Rey’s true powers and why the galaxy should fear her turn to the Dark Side.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the king of the cut content. Over the past year we’ve heard about a creature left on the cutting room floor, key moments referenced in the opening crawl tucked away in Fortnite, and even Colin Trevorrow’s scrapped Duel of the Fates going in a completely different direction to the Episode 9 we ended up with.
In this case, though, it’s probably the Rey we all wanted to see in Rise of Skywalker but never quite got. For all of her Palpatine lineage and Luke Skywalker lessons, we were only really provided a glimpse of her powers. Plus, Rey yeeting soldiers here only reminds us of The Force Unleashed, which is no bad thing.
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