Latest update: Daniel Craig has a secret cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first big film adventure to a galaxy far, far away in 10 years, premieres on Dec. 18. And the news isn't going to slow down just a couple of months before the big release.
To make all the news easier on your eyes, we've compiled everything you need to know about this movie, from news, character lists, and setting to rumors and spoilers. It's all here in one place. We've moved things like story rumors, spoilers, production art, and our own speculations to page two in order to let the people who want to remain spoiler-free do so. They're there if you want 'em, but as very little of that stuff is official or confirmed, and ALL of it can be considered spoilers, you move on to page two at your own risk.
Here's the breakdown:
Page 1 - All Confirmed News & Details
Enjoy!
Latest News
Daniel Craig Has a Secret Cameo in the Film
Yes, you read that right. Apparently, Daniel Craig asked J.J. Abrams to let him play a Stormtrooper in the film. Execute Order 007. Sorry, I just had to...
The news comes from Simon Pegg, who accidentally let it slip while talking to the Sun at the premiere of his new film, Man Up, in London.
Pegg, who was on the Star Wars: The Force Awakensset and has long been speculated to appear in the film (he says NO, he's not in the movie, fyi), told the Sun, "I wasn't a Stormtrooper. Daniel Craig, he was a Stormtrooper...I shouldn't have said that."
Sure, you could call BS on the jokester, but the Sun confirmed with their Star Warssources that this was in fact true. The source said, "Daniel asked for some sort of secret cameo role [...] Fans will love trying to work out which covered up character is him."
How awesome is this?
Billie Lourd Is NOT Playing Young Princess Leia
While Billie Lourd is definitely in Star Wars: Episode VII, that nonsense about her playing a young Princess Leia in flashback has proven to be just that: nonsense.
In short: she's in the movie, but she's not Princess Leia. She was rather emphatic about this in a chat with Entertainment Tonight: "That’s a lie. That’s a rumor. I wish I played a young Princess Leia. Disney, I’m available."
So if they decide to do Star Wars Anthology: Leia, give her a call. Otherwise, we can forget about that Leia stuff for the moment. Now, Leia's daughter on the other hand...
J.J. Abrams Is Pulling Back on References
Discussing the development of the movie, Abrams said that "we've obviously had a lot of time to talk about what's happened outside of the borders of the story that you're seeing."
"So there are, of course, references to things, and some are very oblique so that hopefully the audience can infer what the characters are referring to," he teased.
However, there's a limit. "We used to have more references to things that we pulled out because they almost felt like they were trying too hard to allude to something", adding that "the key is that references be essential so that you don’t reference a lot of things that feel like, oh, we’re laying pipe for, you know, an animated series or further movies. It should feel like things are being referenced for a reason."
Given the current trend for layered movie universes, where the ongoing narrative tends to fight the existing one, that'll be music to many people's ears.
Gwendoline Christie Is Captain Phasma
On the stands, the magazine also revealed that Gwendoline Christie is playing Captain Phasma, the Chrometrooper we met in the second Star Wars trailer. As we suspected, Phasma serves the First Order. Here's a photo:
Adam Driver Confirmed as Kylo Ren
Most importantly, we now know for sure that Adam Driver is playing Kylo Ren, who is seemingly the film's main antagonist.
Here is the first official picture of Kylo Ren without his helmet:
Here's another picture:
These photographs, which were taken by Annie Liebowitz, also emphasize the ice world we saw in the second trailer for the film. I speculated that it might be Hoth, in an ironic full-circle turn of events. That remains to be seen, though.
Lupita Nyong'o Plays a Space Pirate
There are also new pictures of Lupito Nyong'o in CGI garb. She plays an alien pirate named Maz Kanata...
Also, check out the minions who hang out in her pirate castle. The designs are very classic!
Oscar Isaac on Poe Dameron
Talking to IGN, Oscar Isaac shared a few more details about his character, who he claims is "the best frickin pilot in the galaxy!" When asked to explain, he said, "That's just fact. The gauntlet's been thrown."
Isaac on what Poe brings to the film:
"[Joy] is where J.J. [Abrams] operates from. You know the whole thing is infused with such enthusiasm. Such joy. And I think that I definitely do get to inhabit a lot of that feeling. And I know it sounds weird, but the ecstasy of war, which is something that I read about. I read this book called, 'What it's Like to Go to War', which is literal. And this guy talked about that a lot - particularly with pilots. You know that feeling takes you to this weird, sacred space. It's this kind of high that happens. But yeah, I think that J.J. just infuses his enthusiasm and his passion for this story in every frame."
The character will also be doing a bit of bonding with BB-8, the new droid in the film. Isaac described how he got along with the little droid:
"Well, I mean you've seen BB-8! It's very hard not to bond with that little guy. I mean, it's amazing. It's an amazing design, too. I mean, just everybody that worked to make him come to life - or to make it come to life. Let's not give it a gender. It was just so cool to witness that. BB-8 definitely has its own modes of expression that are very unique."
On working with Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher:
"You need to give over to the relationship," the actor reflected. "I mean there is that moment when I first would walk on the set and just see what was there and see them in costume. Or visit set and see them. And those would be sort of pinch yourself moments. Like, 'Wow, how did I even end up here?' So that would be pretty surreal, but then it's like you almost need that extra bit of energy to compartmentalize and approach it like any other job. Even though in the back of your head you know this is not any other job. In order to function properly and do your job properly you kind of have to diminish the thing."
Scroll down for some more details on Poe Dameron and turn to page 2 for some potential spoilers on the character!
Trailers
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser #2
There's a brand NEW trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Check it out right here:
Want to know more about this trailer? Check out our complete in-depth analysis!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Teaser
Does this really need any introduction?
This trailer offers a great first look into the new characters, as well as our first glimpse of the Millennium Falcon since Return of the Jedi! Boy, it's been a very long time. It looks like a lot of those rumors we were talking about are true, after all.
We learned a whole lot more from the trailer in our analysis.
Story
Very Few Details
Unsurprisingly, we know little to nothing about the story of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Nothing official, anyway (Story Rumors here). What we do know is that the new trilogy will see the old generation team up with a new generation of heroes to continue their fight against an oppressive force. Can we call the bad guys the Empire? We don't even know that after the Star Wars Celebration panel.
We do know that Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) are the three young heroes that will inherit the battles of their predecessors. And there's at least one villain (Kylo Ren), apparently strong in the dark side of the Force, standing in their way in this film. That Chrometrooper isn't a good guy, either.
Luke Skywalker's old lightsaber also plays some sort of role in the film.
Most importantly, the story still pits two factions against each other: an oppressive militaristic and tyrannical government against a small band of freedom fighters.
Setting
There's only one confirmed location in the film: a desert junkyard planet called Jakku. We originally thought it was Tatooine, but J.J. Abrams confirmed the new planet during the Celebration panel.
At least two other planet scan be seen in the second The Force Awakens teaser, a forest world not unlike Endor and an ice planet not unlike Hoth. Take that how you will.
First Order vs. Resistance
It was revealed during Star Wars Celebration that the Empire and the Rebel Alliance had been renamed. Following the events of Return of the Jedi, the Empire became the First Order. The Rebel Alliance turned into the Resistance.
It would make sense that after the Battle of Endor, the fall of the Emperor, and the countless casualties on both sides, there would be some kind of change in the leadership and name of each faction. A distabilized Empire would probably go through some kind of reorganization that would re-label them the First Order.
We saw this happen in the Expanded Universe. The Empire became the Imperial Remnant and eventually joined with the New Republic (the government that was born out of the Rebellion) during the Yuuzhan Vong conflict in The New Jedi Order books. That's all non-canon now, of course.
It would seem that the Rebellion wasn't able to organize a formal government to restore peace to the galaxy after all. They're still just the Resistance. Things are probably going to start on the sad side in the Sequel Trilogy.
Characters
Again, we're only dealing with official character details on this page. That means that only CONFIRMED characters are on this list. Likewise, we're not sure what characters many of the cast members are playing in the film, so we've kept our speculation off this list, too. Go to page 2 if you want that speculation, though.
Besides Han, Chewie, Luke, Leia, C-3PO, and R2-D2 (because you should already know them), here are the confirmed characters of Star Wars: The Force Awakens...
Daisy Ridley as Rey
John Boyega as Finn
Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron
BB-8
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren
Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma (Chrometrooper)
Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata
The rest of the cast, in undisclosed roles, is as follows:
Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will also join the original stars of the saga. While their roles have not been confirmed, the internet has been guessing for months. Turn to page 2 for all that speculation.
Additionally, Carrie Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, has joined the cast. What role she's playing remains to be seen, but there's some serious speculation about a rather obvious choice but she has revealed she's definitely NOT playing a young Princess Leia. Christina Chong is also on board in an unnamed role. Game of Thrones' Miltos Yerolemou also has a small role.
Lizo Mzimba has been tweeting out confirmation of a number of minor roles. According to him Jessica Henwick (Nymeria in Game of Thrones season 5), James McCardle (as someone named "Xavier), Tony Bailey (as a Stormtrooper...guess they aren't clones anymore!), and Sam Carr (as a Padawan of some sort). Some badasses from The Raid 2 have also joined up.
We'll continue update the character list as we learn more details!
Other News
J.J Abrams is directing Star Wars: Episode VII. Initial press releases reported that the script would be written by Michael Arndt, scriptwriter of Toy Story 3, but in October of 2013 it was announced that Kasdan and Abrams had taken over scriptwriting duties.
Principal photography is complete! Of course, in a Star Warsmovie, this is barely half the battle, of course. Unsurprisingly, John Williams will be returning to provide the music, as will sound designer Ben Burtt and supervising sound editor Matthew Wood. Fight coordinator Nick Gillard said on Twitter that he is not working on the new films.
If the film sticks to that December 18, 2015 release date it will be the first live action Star Wars film not to be released in May.
Now, as we move on to this next page, beware, as that's where the unconfirmed rumors, speculation, and potential spoilers begin...