‘Rise of Skywalker’ concept art: Leaked scene shows Kylo Ren torturing Chewbacca

There was apparently a scene in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” that had Kylo Ren torturing Chewbacca, and the concept art for the scene was recently leaked online, according to CinemaBlend.

What’s going on?

Joonas Suotamo has a new book coming out called “My Life as a Wookiee,” which will detail his experience of acting as Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy.

• Per an excerpt, Suotamo talked about a scene that was filmed for “The Rise of Skywalker” that included Kylo Ren torturing Chewbacca. If you remember, “Rise of Skywalker” featured a moment where Chewie was captured by the First Order.
• Concept art of the scene appeared on social media as well.

Suotamo said he wasn’t completely sure why the scene was cut. He suggested it might be because it was too dark.

• “Perhaps the transformation of Kylo Ren into Ben Solo would also have suffered with such an inhumane act that some viewers would see it as unforgivable even though he ended up saving the entire galaxy.”

Bigger picture:

And, as I wrote for the Deseret News, we’ve also seen the early concept art for Kylo Ren, including his lightsaber, which actually would have influenced the end of “Force Awakens.” The lightsaber would hav ebeen double-bladed with a blue and red side. By the end of “TFA,” the lightsaber would have only glowed red, indicating that Ren had joined the dark side.

And, back in 2019,  Lucasfilm creative art manager Phil Szostak leaked a picture of the original concept art for Kylo Ren for “The Force Awakens,” which showed a scary-looking character with pale skin, dead eyes and a heavy helmet and cloak.