Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will bring all the heroes of the sequel trilogy back together after the events of The Last Jedi largely kept them separate. However, since the film will take them across the galaxy largely on foot, it looks like ace pilot Poe Dameron will have to adjust to being out of his ship.
During a press conference in Los Angeles to promote the final film in the trilogy, star Oscar Issac revealed how the film tweaks his character, Poe, and turns him into a different kind of person.
Issac revealed that while Poe Dameron had previously been defined as a pilot, the new film forces him into new territory. Issac explained the character even has something of a "swashbuckler" role. "It's the pants and the knee-high boots, I think. It really brought the swashbuckler to this one, I think. He's kind of a bit of wildcard energy and figuring out where he fits in the story and what story is being told.
"And I think with this one... I remember [director] J.J. [Abrams] being excited to sort of dirty up the squeaky clean flyboy image that he's had for a bit. Revealing a bit more of his personality. And I think that really comes out because I've been taken out of my little box in space and I get to join my friends this time."
Isaac also said that in this film Poe will be be alongside Rey and Finn during their new adventure. "You get to see the fun and the hope that I think he brings in this one as a relentless optimism, and how that is tested, and how he tries to be there for his friends and push them even when it seems hopeless.
"I also think the way we approached shooting a lot of these scenes, there was a looseness to it," Isaac added. "There were things shot in big beautiful choreographed takes where it's astounding to watch. All these Stormtroopers and aliens and you realize it's all this one glorious single take within us talking over each other. It was that kind of trust [between J.J. and the cast] that allowed a real spark of vitality."
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film arrives December 20.