Despite a flurry of half-baked rumors from the usual sources, up until today, most of what we knew about Star Wars: Episode IX was total speculation. In fact, the only concrete information we really had was casting.
For instance, we know Carrie Fisher will be appearing from beyond the grave as Princess Leia, that Mark Hamill will return in some capacity as Luke Skywalker and that Billy Dee Williams will return as Lando Calrissian. But other than those folks and the cast from the previous two movies in the Sequel Trilogy, there are a number of other newcomers whose roles remain mysterious. And one of them is relatively obscure British actor Naomi Ackie.
Now, however, thanks to Star Wars Celebration, we finally have our first look at the actress in the film. It’s a blurry photo, but seen below is Ackie in character as Jannah, and though it’s hard to take much away from what we see here, it’s nice to finally lay eyes on her regardless.
From what we understand, Jannah’s backstory is apparently quite similar to Finn’s, in that she too was abducted as a child to be trained as a Stormtrooper. That remains to be confirmed, of course, but if true, then could it be that she’s playing Finn’s sister, as a few rumors have pointed to? We wouldn’t rule it out, but knowing Lucasfilm, we probably won’t be getting any answers on that anytime soon.
In any case, with Celebration now well underway, you can expect to learn at least a little bit more about Star Wars: Episode IX over the coming days. And if we’re lucky, we may even get that first trailer and a title reveal. But even if we don’t, this weekend is sure to be an exciting one for fans of the franchise and we’ll be bringing you all the latest updates as soon as they arise, so stay tuned.