We're still eight months away from the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but a new trailer just premiered at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, and it gives us our first look at a few of the original cast members: Han Solo, Chewbaca, and what appears to be a hooded Luke Skywalker.
Narrated by Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the trailer starts by panning past the wreck of a Star Destroyer on a planet called Jakku — not Tatooine, as J.J. Abrams clarified during today's event. From the damage of the Star Destroyer I am guessing it happened just after the events of Return of the Jedi. I don't think it is the symbol of the end of the Empire as many of us thought would happen with the death of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. I will go into those thoughts in more detail.
"The force is strong in my family," we hear him say as we see the charred remains of Darth Vader. I am thinking this is someone who has an unhealthy obsession with Vader, even beyond his death. I don't think this is Luke but someone else as Luke can see (maybe even talk) Anakin even through death as shown at the very end of Return of the Jedi. I believe he would rather remember his father as the man he freed through death, Anakin, rather than the Sith Lord who nearly wiped out all the Jedi in the Galaxy. Maybe Kylo Ren remembering his old master?
We see Skywalker's mechanical hand reach out and touch R2-D2. This scene makes Luke look nomadic from the camp fire, outside in the night sky (wherever they are), and the heavy cloak and hood.. Like he is away from home and searching for something but keeping R2 with him for as his helpful companion on his journey as he did when seeking out Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back. Maybe after the great war he took to traveling trying to find young ones who are gifted with the force.
"THE FORCE IS STRONG IN MY FAMILY"
"My father has it. I have it. My sister has it." Then we see him (though looking at the giver's hand I am skeptical it is even him) hand off a lightsaber to someone either a young male or a female. But if you look closely and go back to episodes 4, 5, and 6, that isn't Luke's lightsaber but Darth Vader's lightsaber. "You have that power, too," he says. Looking at the recipient's hands and how small they are lead me to two thoughts. Maybe Han and Leia's daughter or someone Luke has taken in as an apprentice but I don't think his son or daughter. I think Luke never had kids or married but mainly took to a nomadic existence much like Obi Wan. My best guess is an apprentice as the wording would be different if it were Leia's child.
At this point, we're a minute into the trailer, and this is where stuff hits the fan. We see more of Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) flying with his squadron of X-Wings, a quick slash of the new lightsaber and Rey and Finn (Daisy Ridley and John Boyega) running from an explosion with a new droid in tow that appears later in the trailer on board a ship or base.
Next we see a quick image of Kylo Ren (widely thought to be Adam Driver from Girls) in the middle of a fight with Stormtroopers behind him. Seeing the troopers behind him not firing or aiming their weapons at him lead me to believe they are on the same side and that the empire didn't fall after the battle of Endor but merely changed hands from Palpatine to another tyrant with ties to the Sith.
Then there is the new Stormtrooper army in formation or a ceremony with leader figure in the background standing in front of a giant flag of the empire. Could that figure in the background be Kylo Ren's master? It's this image and that of the one with Kylo Ren and the stormtroopers that leads me to think that the empire battle on Endor but the war with the Rebels still rages on.
The next two images I believe are related showing a tie fighter firing on stormtroopers inside a docking bay and then a image of Finn looking tired and panic'ed taking off his stormtrooper helm. I am thinking this is this the start of how Finn ends up on the surface of either Jakku or Tatooine show in the first teaser trailer. Maybe the Star Destroyer he was on is blown up from the inside and he takes an escape pod. Hey, if R2 and C3P0 did it in episode 4, why can't Finn in episode 7?
But the cherry on top of this nerdy cake is, of course, our first real sighting of some of the original cast members. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) standing on the deck of the Falcon is a sight for sore eyes, and like with the original teaser, everything here just looks right. It's Han's words when he says "Chewie, we're home." that make me believe Han lost the Millennium Falcon sometime after the battle of Endor. Maybe stolen, lost in a bet, or did it's original owner, Lando Calrissian, never give it back after using it to command the forces against the second Death Star. Either way, he's the captain now!
It's a much deeper look at The Force Awakens than we got back in November. That original 88-second glimpse gave us insight to the new characters played by Boyega, Isaac, and Ridley, as well as Ren's shadowy figure (who was sporting an unusual lightsaber). If you piece these two together, a better picture of Episode VII starts to take shape. But eight months is still a long damn time to wait for the real thing.
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