Star Wars Celebration kicked off in a big way today. During the first panel of the convention that featured faces both old and new from a galaxy far, far away, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams debuted the latest teaser for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’. And thanks to the wonders of the internet, it’s now online for everyone to watch over and over again until the next one comes out. But just for good measure, here it is again:
Before rolling the footage, Abrams dropped a few details about the film. For instance, the planet that many thought to be Tatooine is actually a planet called Jakku. It is here that our three heroes played by Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, and John Boyega meet and embark on a life-changing adventure. The stars were present at the panel as well and they too had some interesting tidbits to share. Ridley revealed that Rey is a scavenger on Jakku, a place where Boyega’s Finn (who was confirmed to be a Stormtrooper) flees from danger. As for Isaac’s Poe Dameron, he’s “the best freakin pilot in the galaxy” that is sent on a mission by “a certain princess”. It’s on that mission that he crosses paths with Rey and Finn.
Going back to the trailer, there are a TON of awesome things to uncover by taking a closer look. First, as opposed to the first look at the film released in November that only clocked in at 88-seconds, the new trailer utilizes nostalgia to appeal to many generations of ‘Star Wars’ fans. This is anchored by the voiceover from Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Master speaks of the Force and how his family including his father and sister has it. But who is he talking to that also has the power? Could this be the offspring of Princess Leia and Han Solo? Or maybe Luke has a kid of his own that he attempts to educate about their family history. No matter what the answer is, there was certainly some haunting imagery accompanying this speech like the remnants of Darth Vader’s helmet.
From there, we get a lot of quick flashes of action sequences. We see Poe in his X-wing, the villainous Kylo Ren wielding his unique lightsaber, explosions, and a great look at the new Stormtroopers, who are standing in front of red banners that kinda paints the Empire as Nazis. I’m sure that there are plenty of academic papers and message board comments making the comparison, so I’ll spare you that discussion.
Instead of going off on that tangent, I’d like to spotlight this Chrometrooper. I’m predicting that this is the rumored Captain Phasma played by ‘Game of Thrones’ star Gwendoline Christie. Something about the way that this character walks screams Brienne of Tarth to me. Of course, I could be very wrong in this guess, but I think I’m very right in saying that the costume looks super badass.
Finally, to close out this teaser, we not only hear another familiar voice from the original trilogy, but we also get to see the face of this scruffy-looking nerfherder as well. Yes, it’s none other than Han Solo and his trusty companion Chewbacca back together again. Now that the disappointing showing from the prequel trilogy is behind us, I can certainly get behind Han’s sentiments when he says, “We’re home.” Based on what we’ve seen so far, it definitely feels that way.
This is only the beginning, ‘Star Wars’ fans. As epic as this second teaser was, we’re only getting started. There’s a lot of time between now and Christmas. Hell, there’s a lot of Star Wars Celebration left, so who knows what else we’ll learn before the weekend is through? Until we find out, share your thoughts and theories about the latest ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ trailer in the comment section.
‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ starring John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker hits theaters on December 18, 2015.
