'Rise of Skywalker' Spoilers: New Sith Trooper Details Teased at SDCC 2019

Lucasfilm won’t be holding a massive panel at San Diego Comic-Con this year to celebrate Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but that doesn’t mean the new movie isn’t on full display. At a preview night for SDCC 2019, Inverse spotted countless toys, high-end models, and even a behind-the-scenes video featurette promoting the brand new variety of Star Wars Stormtrooper: Sith Troopers.

First revealed last week in an official preview, the Sith Troopers are a new soldier in The Rise of Skywalker with an unclear purpose. Common sense suggests they’ll follow Kylo Ren as he commands the First Order, but the return of Emperor Palpatine and the word “Sith” hints that these Stormtroopers may have more complicated allegiances.

Could we be looking at a double cross similar to what happened at the end of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith? Lucasfilm didn’t reveal the answer at SDCC 2019 — at least, not yet — but they did provide some new clues about the Sith Troopers. Most notably, an official video emphasized the new design and the focus on lines, while providing a glimpse at how many of these soldiers we can expect to see. Short answer: A lot. (Watch a truncated version of that video at the top of this page.)

Another big Sith Trooper clue came from a Hasbro display depicting iconic scenes from each major Star Wars movie using toys. For Episode IX, the company simply included a large number of Sith Trooper figures, again suggesting that these new enemy soldiers won’t be in short supply.

Various other Sith Trooper toys, including a Lego version, were also on display, and we got photos of all of them from every possible angle. So if there’s anything else to be learned about these menacing new Star Wars baddies — who will probably still have terrible aim in The Rise of Skywalker — the answer may lie in these images.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20, 2019.