We’ve known that J.J. Abrams is introducing a new alien to us in ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ and now he is sharing a bit about the character. We know that in the latest TV spot that Maz Kanata says “I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people. I see your eyes. I know your eyes” but we also haven’t really seen what Lupita Nyong’o’s character looks like in motion. In fact, until now we haven’t actually known for sure that we had already seen the character in the main poster that had been released.
According to J.J. Abrams though “That’s Maz” on the poster. Though he wouldn’t clarify if she was talking to Daisy Ridley’s Rey in the recent clip or someone else entirely. However the quote actually can be taken literally as apparently her eyes have both a special meaning and power as Abrams continues with:
“I had this pitch about these goggles that she wore. Her eyes are an important aspect of her character, and you’ll see how it plays out.”
This is why we don’t really get much in the way of aliens so far in ‘Star Wars’ because aside from the Jedi there hasn’t been much in the way of special powers. Unless of course you count a seductively hypnotic sound made by a certain Tatooine cantina band.
Nyong’o has filled in some details:
“As an actor for films, your eyes are a lot of the way you communicate anyway. So it was definitely a gift to have that be the means to her magic as a motion-capture character.”
What does that mean though? Abrams doesn’t elaborate. However he does share a bit about the character:
“Her history is that she was a pirate for a long time. She’s lived over a thousand years. She’s had this watering hole for about a century, and it’s like another bar that you’d find in a corner of the Star Wars universe.”
If she’s lived that long as a pirate it wouldn’t surprise me if Maz ends up showing up in any of the anthology movies. In particular, I could see her making a cameo in the Han Solo stand alone film. However, who is she that is so long lived? Where is she from? Abrams won’t give specifics as it is important to the story:
“All that backstory will be forthcoming. In the movie, you don’t learn these things, but I know that these are things that are coming out in other venues.”
That almost seems to confirm that we’ll be learning more about her soon though if it isn’t in the films there are always the books, comic books, and video games that are all coming out and considered in canon. If she was talking to say Han Solo in the film it could really indicate that we’ll be seeing her next in the prequel film.
Are you looking forward to knowing more about Maz? Do you think she’ll be an important aspect to the story? Share your thoughts below!
‘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.
Source: Entertainment Weekly.
