A supposedStar Wars 9poster leaked online at the end of March and many believed it was fake. Even Luke Skywalker star Mark Hamill came out and said he thought a talented fan put it together. However, afterThe Rise of Skywalkertrailer and theStar WarsCelebration panel, it looks like it was indeed the real deal, though it might not have been for public consumption. Out of the few reasons people called fake news on the poster was because of the silly looking alien standing behind Finn. Fans refused to believe he was real.
Well, the worm-like alien was introduced today atStar Wars Celebrationin Chicago and his name is Klad. J.J. Abrams gave us the correct spelling of his name and says he’s a fun character inThe Rise of Skywalkerand a friend of the Resistance. Chewbacca is actually responsible for bringing him to the fold, according to Abrams. Klad is featured on the leakedStar Wars 9poster, along with the same costumes we saw the other characters wearing in the trailer.
Along with the leaked poster,Star Warsfans were treated to character sheets, which correctly gave us the name of Naomi Ackie’s Jannah character. She is also featured on theStar Wars 9poster. This means Keri Russell’s character really is Zori, though she was not featured in any ofThe Rise of Skywalkerfootage shown today. It’s beginning to look like Mark Hamill was throwing some misdirection out there to keep fans from having anything spoiled.
One of the thingsMark Hamill took issuewith was the fact that C-3PO has Chewbacca’s bowcaster in the leakedStar Wars 9poster. With that being said, it has been heavily rumored 3PO will have a larger role, which could end up with him being a warrior. Anthony Daniels, who has played the droid for over 40 years now, appeared atStar WarsCelebration and didn’t spill anything, but he did imply people might start listening to the nervous droid for the first time. Again, the poster may not have been made for the public to see just yet, but it surely seems as if it was the real deal this whole time.
The Rise of Skywalkerposter was released today and it simply has the name and iconic logo on it surrounded by stars. It’s simple, yet effective, and one can imagine the leaked poster we saw, or a design similar to it, will be unveiled as the release date gets closer. Many believed the leak poster was actually a promo poster to be used in retail stores for the big Merch push coming on Force Friday. As is the case with any of this, we’ll just have to wait and see. The strangest takeaway about this whole thing is the fact that Klad is a real character and he looks really weird. Let’s just hope he doesn’t end up inJar Jar Binks territory. The Klad info came to us fromThe Rise of Skywalkerpanel atStar Wars Celebration.
