J.J Abrams Wasn’t Sure About That X-Wing Scene in The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker serves as the ninth and final installment of the Skywalker Saga, which means director J.J. Abrams had quite a difficult task to make a satisfying conclusion. The film had a lot of cameos and references that call back to the original trilogy to tie it all together, but there was one scene in the film that Abrams wasn't sure about at first.

In the additional content included in the movie's digital release (via CinemaBlend), composer John Williams revealed that Abrams wasn't immediately sold with the X-Wing moment from the film. "Yoda lifts [the X-wing] in The Empire Strikes Back. Ramiro Belgardt, the music editor, he said ‘[the scene of Luke lifting the X-wing] should be exactly the music that we had for Yoda," Williams shared. "And Actually, J.J. questioned it, he said ‘Well, is that, are we doing that right?' And everybody said ‘Oh yes, it has to be. You know, the fans will all know.'"

The scene was a nod to the iconic moment from Empire Strikes Back, so it seems fitting that the music used in that film were to be used in a similar scene in The Rise of Skywalker; with Luke using the Force to lift his X-Wing out of deep waters, making it a full-circle moment.

Obviously, Abrams was convinced in the end, which is why the music from the 1980 movie made it to the final cut. "So I went back to the score of Empire Strikes Back, to get those bars exactly out of them," he said. "That actual little central piece of taking the ship up is exactly as we had it before."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available on Digital HD and hits 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on March 31.

Also Read: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Novel Teases the Potential Return of Palpatine