There was some concept art that leaked out recently that was said to be for Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX, which was going to be titled Duel of Fates. The director confirmed that concept art was not from his film, but was from J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But, this new series of concept art that I’ve included in this post is from Trevorrow’s film and it gives us an idea of what his vision for the final chapter in the Star Wars saga would have been.
The art reveals that Rey has a double-bladed lightsaber, we get a glimpse at Kylo Ren wearing a new mask, there’s a scene that shows Ben Solo battling Darth Vader, and we get a look at a monstrous Sith teacher named Tor Valum. There’s a lot more cool stuff as well.
I’ve included some notes that came from each piece of the art thanks to CBM. I’ve gotta say, I would have loved to see these visuals brought to life on the big screen. The more I learn about Trevorrow’s Episode IX, the more I would have much rather seen his version. There’s an epic moment where Luke Skywalker’s Force Ghost appears in front of Kylo Ren and grabs his red Lightsaber blade! The audience and fans would have lost their shit over that!
Check out the concept below and tell us what you think!
Luke’s Force Ghost would have continued to train Rey in this version of the movie, and they can be seen here on a planet called Koralev.
Using her newfound double-bladed lightsaber, Rey has taken the fight to the First Order’s Stormtroopers aboard a Star Destroyer.
It appears as if Captain Phasma was going to be included in Colin Trevorrow’s Episode IX before Rian Johnson killed her off in The Last Jedi, and she’s shown here executing Resistance traitor Bisc Kova on Coruscant as the masses look on.
The Millennium Falcon flies to a planet called Bonadan where Poe Dameron would have reportedly led the crew to his grandfather.
We’ve been hearing a lot about the Knife-9, a ship which would have been piloted by the Knights of Ren. Well, here it is in all its glory as it chases down Poe and Rey as they pilot a Razer Sail through Bonadan waters.
Kylo Ren was going to seek out an ancient Sith master who taught Emperor Palpatine much of what he knew, and his name was Tor Valum.
Kylo Ren battles Darth Vader in this scene which was meant to be similar to the cave sequence in The Empire Stikes Back. After being scarred earlier in the movie, Ren was going to create a new mask using Mandalorian armour which we catch a glimpse of here.
The once proud city of Coruscant is now the stronghold for The First Order, and it makes perfect sense that they would set up shop there based on how Emperor Palpatine once used the capital as his home.
The driving force of Trevorrow’s movie would have been the Resistance attempting to send out a beacon to the rest of the Galaxy, with a message from Leia rallying them to their cause to help them stop the First Order. Here, we see them trying to send it.
R2-D2 and C-3PO roam the streets of Coruscant and it’s clear that the city has fallen into ruin thanks to the First Order.
Finn was once going to lead a rebellion on Coruscant, giving him a vastly more satisfying story arc as a result. Here, we get to see him take the fight to the First Order, ending them once and for all with the help of those living in the city.
After Rey tracks Kylo Ren to Mortis, she comes face to face with a massive creature and no doubt makes good use of her new double bladed lightsaber (her original staff has been combined with the remains of Luke Skywalker’s original blade).
Those living on Coruscant have taken refuge beneath the old Jedi Temple and the city’s streets. Using old Empire weapons, they’ve created an army of old AT-STs in order to try and take their home back from the First Order.
And here they are in action! It looks like the citizens of Coruscant have actually donned old Imperial Stormtrooper armour, which does make sense as it offers them some protection against the onslaught to come from the First Order.
A battle like this would have been amazing to behold, and it’s been said that Finn waving that flag would have been a huge character moment for him and likely quite a bit more exciting than him wanting to tell Rey something but never doing so.
R2-D2 was going to be destroyed during the final battle, and here we see an emotional Threepio bidding farewell to his oldest friend (don’t worry, though, he would have been restored and brought back to life right at the end of the movie).
Look closely at Kylo Ren here and we get our best look yet at the new mask he would have worn to cover his face after it was left horribly scarred by an ancient Sith weapon, which wouldn’t have granted him access to its secrets due to him being so conflicted.
As Luke appeared in front of his nephew, he would have used the Force to grab Kylo Ren’s lightsaber blade in what would have no doubt been a powerful moment on screen.
Upon realising that the First Order were fighting a losing battle, General Hux took the coward’s way out and used one of the lightsabers in his collection (it would have been purple in the movie) to commit seppuku.
This was clearly meant to pay homage to A New Hope, as Leia would have recorded a message to send out to the wider Galaxy in order to let them know that they could rise up and help the Resistance end the First Order once and for all.