Even the tightest of ships will spring leaks now and again, and keeping a vessel the size
of Star Wars completely watertight is near impossible, even with J.J.
Abrams back at the helm for Episode 9.
The forthcoming entry to the main space saga isn't due to arrive until December 2019, but
the rumors are already starting to trickle through.
If you want to go into Episode 9 completely spoiler free, this is your cue to click away.
But if you can't resist the urge to find out what could possibly be in store for Rey, Finn,
and Poe, let's take a look at what we might already know about the next journey to a galaxy
far, far away.
Rey's real parentage
Speculation surrounding Rey's parentage has swirled ever since The Force Awakens came
and went without revealing the details of her bloodline.
In The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren told her that her parents were just a pair of "filthy junk traders"
who had sold Rey off for drinking money, but was he being honest?
Many suspect that he wasn't, and a new casting call has ignited the debate over Rey's family
once again.
According to alleged leaks from ThatHashtagShow, Abrams and casting director Nina Gold are
searching for a female lead between the ages of 40 and 50 to fill the role of "Mara".
The name is an obvious reference to Luke Skywalker's Expanded Universe wife, Mara Jade, but the
name may also just be a placeholder.
Once Disney took the reins, Mara was erased out of continuity, but the recent novelization
of The Last Jedi revealed that Luke actually had a wife back on Tatooine.
The stars seem to be aligning on this rumor, but will Mara Jade turn out to be Rey's mother?
According to his friend and colleague Simon Pegg, Abrams had something just like this
in mind when he made The Force Awakens.
He told Josh Horowitz on the HappySadConfused podcast:
"I know what J.J.
kind of intended.
There was some talk of, you know, a kind of relevant lineage for her."
So, perhaps Episode 9 will give him a chance to circle back to the still-unanswered issue
of Rey's origins.
Return of the Hutts
Reddit is filled with supposed leaks about Star Wars, which means the genuine ones can
sometimes get lost in the noise.
But if a user named 4LOM is to be believed, though in a post tagged 'probable BS', they
may have an inside track on Episode 9 rumors via a colleague doing some visual effects
work on the picture, which has led to some pretty exciting rumors being shared.
If what this person says is true, then the notorious Hutt Cartel is set to make a return
to play an important role in the film, as unlikely allies of the Resistance.
According to the source, it'll be Jabba's son who's step up to take over his dad's shady
business in the film.
Fans may recognize Rotta as the baby Hutt who was kidnapped as part of a plot to discredit
the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars.
As described by this Redditor, the Rose, Finn, and Poe triad will be revisited in Episode
9, as they cross paths with the Hutt Cartel for a big dinner scene... with a musical number
in play.
The same leak also suggests we may see Benicio del Toro's return as the double-crossing DJ
by way of this same grouping.
DJ will allegedly be involved with the Hutts, and Finn and Rose will be understandably furious
with him.
But Poe will apparently see him as a "necessary evil," and he may even join the squad after
a raid by the First Order.
Judging from recent interviews that Del Toro has given regarding the character, it seems
pretty clear that he's ready to step back into DJ's boots, so perhaps the next film
will give him a chance to redeem himself after all.
A time jump
Another Redditor called FOOSLS claims to be privy to an early storyboard that was being
used back when Colin Trevorrow was still attached as director, and said there will be a five-year
time jump between The Last Jedi and Episode 9.
In that time, Kylo Ren will have fooled most of the galaxy into thinking he's a benevolent
ruler; meanwhile, the Resistance will have lost popularity, even within its own ranks,
as people question why they should be fighting anymore.
It's worth noting that John Boyega has hinted that there'll be at least some kind of leap
forward in time for Episode 9 when he mentioned in a recent interview:
"I can't wait to start shooting the next and final leg of the franchise.
The first step is growing out my hair, so you can wait for the trailer to see why."
The storyboard also apparently goes into great detail about a secret ocean-covered planet
that the First Order uses as a giant war factory.
Underneath its oceans, there's supposedly a colossal workshop manned by the enslaved
peoples of countless other planets.
And to get there, this rumor suggests Finn, Rey and Poe will have to enlist the help of
an alien prodigy who knows her way around the Unknown Regions.
Once they find the place, they'll also reportedly try to liberate the captives below who work
in the ancient manufacturing station they power.
As for how the heroes discover the location of this top secret planet in the first place,
the rumor says there's a surprising mole in the First Order.
Apparently, Domhnall Gleeson's sniveling General Hux will resort to feeding information to
the Rebellion as part of his efforts to undermine Kylo Ren's rule.
His brief attempt at putting himself forward as Supreme Leader in The Last Jedi was literally
choked out of him by Ren, so, Hux clearly doesn't like the new boss and may not give
up on his ambitions to take control.
Snoke's second life
When Colin Trevorrow parted ways with Lucasfilm over so-called creative differences, stories
regarding the real nature of his departure from Episode 9 started to circulate.
One rumor making the rounds was that the director was fired after he argued with the studio
over the fate of Luke Skywalker and Supreme Leader Snoke, both of whom he apparently wanted
to use in Episode 9.
If true, well, he obviously lost that argument and his job, too.
Trevorrow called it "a very acidic situation" when he later sat down with Uproxx, adding:
"Sometimes creative people can't find a shared path through the woods."
In what would be a cruel twist of fate if all this is true, it looks as though Trevorrow's
replacement will get to use those characters after all.
According to Star Wars superfan Mike Zeroh, a more recent storyboard has been leaked,
and it apparently features Snoke with a shadowy figure that looks like Kylo Ren.
There's also a rumor that Lucasfilm may cast Ed Harris and digitally de-age him so he can
play a younger version of Snoke, perhaps through the Force Vision flashbacks that Abrams introduced
in The Force Awakens.
This does sound like an interesting idea, but if Andy Serkis has anything to do with
it, we'll also get to see the older, disfigured Snoke again in Episode 9.
The motion capture wizard has hinted that he'd love to return to the role, admitting
that he'd be "very happy to extend Snoke's life," and he may be in luck because the leaked
working title of the film might even hint at Serkis coming back.
According to Fantha Tracks, the working title for Episode 9 is trIXie.
What does that have to do with Serkis?
Many are seeing this as a nod to his portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings,
films in which he used the term "tricksy" regularly.
As leaks, rumors, and spoilers go, this one might seem awfully thin…but Lucasfilm has
been fairly tricksy themselves in the past, so it would be a mistake to ignore the possibility.
Back to Naboo
Last but not least, there are reports that J.J.
Abrams might also be planning on returning to the planet Naboo.
There were already rumors that the birthplace of Luke and Leia's mother Padmé Amidala might
be where we'd see General Leia Organa laid to rest, but some concept art supposedly seen
by a French source featured the planet's pristine beaches and coastlines, not a funeral.
Of course, Leia is still alive as of the end of The Last Jedi.
But given the sad fact that Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, most are assuming her
character will be retired with some dignity pretty early on in Episode 9.
Lucasfilm already confirmed that they will not be rendering a digital version of Fisher
for the film, so we shouldn't expect another Rogue One-style resurrection.
This doesn't mean that the Naboo story is a false leak, however.
Abrams has previously stated that he wants to tie all three trilogies together in some
way with this film, and a return to Naboo would be a nice link to the prequels.
Also, Lucasfilm location scouts have apparently been spotted in Spain, which has doubled as
Naboo in the past.
Of course, these are all just rumors for now, so it's hard to know for sure what's to come.
But if any of these supposed leaks do turn out to be true, it sounds like the Force will
certainly be with the film as we follow our heroes on another fascinating journey ahead.