There is no other way to describe The Star Wars sequel trilogy other than that it is a bit of a mess. The plot is all over the place, it retreads a lot of the same ground as the original, and the directors simply had different visions of what they wanted, especially when it comes to The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker underwent a significant amount of rewrites when it was originally created, as the first director, Colin Trevorrow left the project. Before he left, the script was actually titled “Duel of Fates,” according to a leaked subreddit post.
Duel of Fates featured a completely different plot, which even saw Kylo Ren spending time on Mustafar and interacting with a villain named the Eye of Webbish Bog. Rey also had a lot of different traits, leaning a bit more into the dark side than she did in The Rise of Skywalker.
It’s hard to imagine all of this without seeing it, though. Thankfully, we no longer have to, as concept artist Jon McCoy has just revealed a sketchbook of unreleased art that details what they were going for with the original script.
You can check out some of the screenshots (there’s over 90), and a note from McCoy, right down below
Hi all! I wanted to share a bit more insight into the work I did with the amazing team on Star Wars Ep IX: The Rise of Skywalker. I’m calling it a sketchbook, as you will see, due the extremely rough and unfinished nature of the artwork!
For more, be sure to head over to Jon McCoy’s official website, which features a boatload of more pictures and insight that went into creating them.
While you’re here, be sure to check out all of the Star Wars-related content in the articles right down below, including plenty of news, quizzes, and features. That includes an Ahsoka Tano vs Darth Maul diorama, news on LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and an official review of the SWTOR: Legacy of the Sith expansion.
Image Source: Jon McCoy