Prior to the release of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, director and co-writer JJ Abrams was part of the large group of cast and crew that embarked on a weeks-long press tour to promote the project. This began in April 2019 with Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, where the first trailer was shown and Emperor Palpatine’s return was revealed. Fans were ecstatic about this prospect at the convention, as seen by the reaction videos that garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Afterwards, Abrams was asked about Rey’s parentage, and revealed that they would be building on the "nobody" concept introduced in The Last Jedi. However, that that wasn’t the end of the story.