Star Wars Celebration is finally behind us. But even after watching the explosive first trailer for Episode IX, now officially titled Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, watching the panel, and listening to interviews there are still a lot of questions that have gone unanswered. While many of us have already theorized on what the title could mean, another question on everybody’s mind is what does Emperor Palpatine’s menacing laugh at the end of the teaser trailer mean for our heroes.

After the trailer was shown to attendees the lights came on to reveal Ian McDiarmid, the actor who has portrayed Palpatine since The Return of the Jedi and in all of the subsequent prequels. It pretty much confirmed that the Sith Lord would be back, at least in some capacity. While this was a surprise to many of us, the move was in the works for a long time. More on the report below.

When the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker title first appeared at the end of the new teaser trailer, fans had a few theories on what it could mean. But director J.J. Abrams had a chance to speak about the meaning of the title. While he couldn’t provide any specifics, he did leave fans enough to go on.

Additionally, Abrams addressed the mysterious laugh that was heard at the end of The Rise of Skywalker trailer, and how George Lucas had a hand in shaping the film. Check out all of this in the full report here below.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the epic conclusion to a 40-plus year story arc that first started in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope. Fans who have stuck with the franchise since the very beginning have seen the rise and fall of the Skywalker family, and though things may have seemed bleak towards the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Jedi and Skywalker legacy will continue to live on.

But what sort of menacing threat awaits our heroes like Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), and Poe (Oscar Isaac).

Every generation has a legend. And all great sagas must come to an end. Such is the fate for Star Wars, who has been telling us the story of the Skywalker story since 1977. Over forty years later, Disney and Lucasfilm will bring that saga to a close with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. During Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, the cast and crew took to the stage to give us our first look at the upcoming and highly anticipated final chapter of the Skywalker story. Check it out below.

One has to wonder what a Star Wars: Episode IX would have looked like under Colin Trevorrow‘s direction. But he was no longer attached to the project before production could even start. J.J. Abrams was then signed on to direct his second Star Wars feature.

But for a franchise that looked like it was going to have different directors attached, Disney and Lucasfilm must have made a very enticing offer to the filmmaker. That’s because Abrams almost turned down Star Wars: Episode IX. More on the report below.