The Star Wars Skywalker saga ended with a bit of a thud than the bang everyone was hoping for and one can’t help but think “what would Colin Trevorrow’s version of Star Wars Ep 9: Duel Of The Fates look like and would it have been better than the fan-service filled Rise Of Skywalker?”
Well based on leaked concept art allegedly from Colin Trevorrow’s Duel Of The Fates, his take on Star Wars Episode 9 would’ve been far better – and darker – than Rise Of Skywalker.
Around 20 pieces of concept art allegedly from Duel Of The Fates appeared on the ‘StarWarsLeaks’ subreddit and showed that Colin Trevorrow’s ideas from his original script would’ve looked frigging awesome had Lucasfilm let him make his Star Wars movie instead of sacking him.
It seems like Duel Of The Fates would’ve easily been the darkest Star Wars film and would’ve had an apocalyptic aesthetic due to Trevorrow’s original intention of having the final climatic battle take place between the First Order and the Resistance on a wrecked Coruscant.
But the biggest departures from Rise Of Skywalker are the character moments and designs, all of which would’ve been awesome and would’ve referenced the Prequel and Original Trilogies in great ways. Here’s a quick summary of what we could’ve got:
- Force Ghost Luke grabbing Kylo Ren’s lightsaber by hand(!)
- C-3PO mourning a destroyed R2-D2 (oh no…)
- Rey sporting a blue double-bladed lightsaber and rocking a new black outfit reminiscent of Luke’s from Return Of The Jedi
- Rey getting trained by Luke
- General Hux committing seppuku with a red lightsaber after Coruscant falls to the Resistance
- Leia delivering a message of hope via BB-8 (great callback to A New Hope)
- Kylo Ren taking on Darth Vader
- Rey (with her double-bladed lightsaber) taking on Kylo Ren
Now given how this new set of Star Wars Ep 9 leaks comes after a previously released set of images claiming to be from Trevorrow’s would-be film only to be denied by the man himself, it’s best to take the concept art with a big grain of salt.
Having said that, neither Trevorrow or Lucasfilm has confirmed nor denied the authenticity of these Duel Of The Fates leaks and the silence is deafening. Trevorrow doesn’t really need to say anything and nor should he because the concept art is brilliant.
As utterly fantastic as all these leaked (alleged) Duel Of The Fates details are, it all comes with a tinge of sadness because it seems like Lucasfilm had the seeds of a unique Star Wars film that honoured what came before it, only to throw it all out in favour of…whatever Rise Of Skywalker was.
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