The Japanese title for The Rise of Skywalker has been revealed and it may provide further insight and clues as to what we can expect from the upcoming installment of the beloved franchise. For the time being, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams aren’t revealing any more than they have to. As such, fans are mostly left to hopelessly speculate. Bearing that in mind, something as simple as a slightly alternate title is worth analyzing.
According to a new report, the movie’s subtitle in Japan will be slightly altered to Dawn of Skywalker. That, for the most part, conveys the same idea. Though, the words dawn and rise do carry slightly different meanings. And that’s why this is worth examining. Dawn, specifically, by definition, can mean “the beginning of a phenomenon or period of time.” Rise is, inherently, a bit less specific and vague. Dawn, if we’re to apply it specifically to the name Skywalker, puts us in a place where we’re probably not looking at a specific Skywalker to rise from the ashes. Instead, we could be looking at a movement springing up in a galaxy far, far away.
It’s been theorized quite a bit since the title was first revealed at Star Wars Celebration that it didn’t relate specifically to any one individual, such as Luke or Rey. Mark Hamill will be back as Luke, but as a Force Ghost. The title, it would seem, refers possibly to something like a new Jedi Order that will model itself in the image of the Skywalker name. It’s more about the meaning that it carries as opposed to the name itself. Thematically, that would make a great deal more sense in relation to what’s been explored in this trilogy so far.
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For now, speculation such as this is the best we can do. Star Wars, in the modern era, has been defined by secrecy and J.J. Abrams, throughout his entire career, has gone out of his way to shroud his productions in mystery. With this being billed as the final chapter of the Skywalker saga, should we really have expected any different? In all likelihood, we’ll be getting another full-length trailer this summer, be it at San Diego Comic-Con or Disney’s D23 Expo. Beyond that, there are few guarantees.
What we know for sure is this will be the end of Star Wars on the big screen for a minute. Lucasfilm will hit the pause button and give audiences a break while they develop the trilogy from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The next movie in the franchise, which is set to be the first installment of that trilogy, isn’t scheduled to arrive until December 2022. Star Wars: The Rise of Skwyalker, on the other hand, is set to hit theaters on December 20 this year. Be sure to check out the post from the Star Wars Stuff Twitter account below and feel free to speculate amongst yourselves as to what, if anything, it could mean.
#TheRiseofSkywalker will be called Star Wars: Dawn of Skywalker in Japan ?? pic.twitter.com/BWBFDuQ3hF
— Star Wars Stuff (@starwarstuff) June 23, 2019
