SALT LAKE CITY — The new trailer for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” ended on quite a cliffhanger — Rey holding a double-bladed red lightsaber while donning a cloak.
Though dark side Rey is certainly making headlines for its surprise factor, there may not be too much of a shocker behind the double-bladed lightsaber if you’re a “Star Wars” super-fan. Casuals probably remember Darth Maul held a double-bladed red lightsaber in “The Phantom Menace,” of course.
But Rey’s double-bladed lightsaber — which has a hinged hilt that can flip open and snap close — appeared in two animated “Star Wars” productions, according to ComicBook.com.
The lightsaber appeared in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” when General Pong Krell, a Jedi warrior, turned his back on the Jedi Order and faced off with Clone Troopers.
There’s a brief moment where you can see the lightsaber, which ComicBook.com unearthed.
“We didn’t see him activate his lightsabers that often on ‘The Clone Wars,’ but he did activate one side while it was still folded to threaten a clone trooper,” according to Inverse.
But that was’t the double-bladed hinged lightsaber’s only appearance. In season two of “Star Wars Rebels,” the lightsaber took center stage when Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi, goes through an ancient Jedi Temple found on Lothal, the home planet of Jarrus’ Padawan learner and main character of “Rebels,” Ezra.
Jarrus faced a test inside the temple in which he had to battle a character named The Sentinel, who used the double-bladed lightsaber, too.
Watch a clip of that scene below.
But the idea of a double-bladed lightsaber has actually been in the works for awhile. Back in 2015, Business Insider reported that coproduction designer Rick Carter developed the idea of a double-bladed weapon with two colors.
“Early on, Rick was really keen on bringing this concept of fire and ice together visually. He suggested, because I had one lightsaber that was blue, ‘Why don’t we make it a double lightsaber?’” said concept artist Erik Tiemens, according to Business Insider.
And, as the Deseret News reported in July, concept art seen in “The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens” showed Kylo Ren holding a double-bladed lightsaber that had a red and blue blade.
The film’s original screenwriter, Michael Ardnet, wanted the lightsaber to capture Ren’s struggle between the dark side and the light.