'Star Wars: Episode 9' Trailer Release Date: Super Bowl Leaks Might Be True

Regardless of whether or not they also happen to enjoy football and watching Tom Brady crush his competition like Anakin Skywalker slaying the younglings, a lot of Star Wars fans will probably tune in to Super Bowl LIII on February 3 in the hopes they might catch the very first glimpse of Star Wars: Episode IX. All this mere days after Kingdom Hearts III releases.

It could be a very big week for Roman numerals, apparently.

The popular rumor circulating the internet is that Disney negotiated with CBS to air three short teasers from Star Wars: Episode IX during the Super Bowl. If that’s true, then a title announcement should conceivably come with it.

However, any and all rumors about one or more Episode IX teasers airing during the Super Bowl should not be taken too seriously, as they all originate from YouTuber Mike Zeroh who, in all fairness, publishes a clickbaity Star Wars video almost every hour of every day.

They’re often blatantly speculative and false, and it causes so much frustration in the broader fan community that even The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson tweeted negative things about Zeroh’s behavior.

Some of his recent videos claim Luke Skywalker fights Snoke in Episode IX — despite both characters being super dead. Other videos tease connections between Rey and Palpatine or that time travel might play a major factor. In September 2018 MakingStarWars.net even published an article literally titled, “Mike Zeroh is Trash.” The article made the claim that he has “Zeroh credibility” and “Zeroh accuracy.”

What a truly sick, and totally accurate, burn.

One video from December 2015 claimed Rey and Luke would search for the first Jedi Temple in Episode VII. Another video claims Leia has fallen to the Dark Side of the Force. They’re all dramatic and/or shocking — and they’re pretty much always totally wrong.

But is there any actual credibility to the rumor that we’ll get a title and teasers at the Super Bowl?

I’ve previously speculated based on Lucasfilm and Disney’s history marketing its core Star Wars movies, and the timing actually does work out. The Last Jedi was announced as a title roughly 11 months before the film’s release, and we got glimpses not long after that.

Most fans assume that Star Wars Celebration in April will focus almost exclusively on Episode IX, so it’s safe to assume that the first full trailer won’t come until then. But sparse teasers for Star Wars movies do tend to come far earlier than that.

There’s also an additional precedent to consider: The first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story was revealed at the Super Bowl last year. That movie, however, was released in May, more than four full months earlier than Episode IX’s release date.

The honest truth is that we don’t know, Mike Zeroh doesn’t know, and anything anybody reads online is just hopeful speculation. Why not watch the Big Game anyway just in case?

Super Bowl LIII will take place on Sunday, February 3, 2019. Kickoff time is 6:30 p.m. Eastern and will air on CBS.