While it was criticised for playing it a little too safely (the comparisons to
A New Hope came thick and fast),
Star Wars: The Force Awakens marked a strong start for the new
Star Wars trilogy and successfully relaunched the franchise while shifting the spotlight to a new group of heroes.
It also introduced a fearsome new villain in the form of Kylo Ren, and definitely delivered some big surprises. Now, with just over a week until
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters, ILM has released some jaw-dropping keyframe concept art depicting scenes that were and weren't in the movie. For example, we kick things off with what was supposed to be Darth Vader's castle!
We also get to visit Jakku, see alternate designs for characters like BB-8 and Luke Skywalker, and various other Resistance and First Order ships, along with a number of action-packed setpieces.
Some of these you may have seen before, but they are definitely new to the site and there's a lot here we haven't spotted before now. To check out the gallery, hit the "View List" button!