Star Wars Episode 9: Latest On-Set Images Reveal New Creatures And Characters

Star Wars: Episode IX has been in production in the UK for a few weeks, and images are starting to emerge from the set. We've already had an official picture that was released as shooting kicked off, and now we have some new behind-the-scenes images.

You can see them over at comicbook.com. They feature Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) climbing a grassy hill on an unknown planet. There's also some hairy horse-type creatures, and what seems to be our first look at the new character played by British actress Naomi Ackie.

Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, 2019. It's directed by JJ Abrams, and the cast also includes Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billie Lourd. They will be joined by new cast members Keri Russell and Richard E. Grant, plus Billy Dee Williams, who will return to the saga to play Lando Calrissian once again. Also, the late Carrie Fisher will appear as Princess Leia for the last time, via unused footage from 2015's The Force Awakens.

Abrams also directed The Force Awakens and joined Episode IX in September last year, following the departure of original director Colin Trevorrow. Although little is known about Episode IX at this stage, Abrams has suggested that he won't play it safe with his second Star Wars film. "I feel like we need to approach this with the same excitement that we had when we were kids loving what these movies were," he said. "But at the same time, we have to take them places that they haven't gone, and that's sort of our responsibility."

In related news, earlier this week Tran spoke out about the online abuse she suffered this year that forced her to quit Instagram. In an article for The New York Times, she stated she wants to "live in a world where people of all races, religions, socioeconomic classes, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities are seen as what they have always been: human beings."