If you haven’t seen it yet, take a gander at the first Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens trailer. Did you watch it? Well watch it again just to take it all in.
While this trailer is extremely exciting, it also possibly confirms a few of the rumors that have been circulating about the plot. Fair warning, these are rumors but they could turn out to be potential spoilers.
We see John Boyega’s Storm Trooper character first thing in some form of distress. If the rumors are true, then he has just suffered a crash which seems likely since his distress seems focused on the fact that he doesn’t no where he is.
We get a first look of Daisy Ridley’s scavenger character as well, hopping on her speeder in some kind of a rush. While nothing is concrete, it’s safe to assume that the planet they are on is in fact Tatooine. Not counting the fact that it is a desert planet, it is historically known to have a prevalent scavenger motif.
The only other rumor that I feel confident in confirming from this trailer is Daisy and John’s characters eventually meeting up with Han Solo and Chewie. In what is easily my favorite part of the trailer, we see a beautiful shot of the Millenium Falcon outmaneuvering a couple tie fighters. In the background you can see that they are above a desert which could very easily be the same one as our two heroes, Daisy and John.
Beyond this, nothing else is really confirmed but instead gives us quite a bit more to ponder. Starting with the most controversial, the villain’s new light saber. Sparking numerous jokes across the internet, I don’t believe they would add this feature for no reason. So my bet is that they are either going to use it to add a level to combat having it act as a more traditional cross-guard or as actual little light-sabers. My other thought is since the Sith and Jedi have seemingly died out or are in very low numbers, our antagonist is going to have to train himself. Since he doesn’t know how to build a light saber and has no formal master, he creates an imperfect light-saber. One that requires some kind of release channel to divert excess energy. These are just my ideas but however it is explained, I firmly believe it will make sense.
It is obvious that the war between the Rebels and the Empire is still going strong. We get a scene of some Storm Troopers about to engage in some form of battle and a cool scene of X-wings coming in low and fast. Here we also get our first glimpse of Oscar Isaac who is in one of the X-wings. Where either of these scene are taking place or if they are connected are anybodies guess. Either way, they look awesome.
One point that has only recently been confirmed is the actor responsible for the voice over. Rumors were flying everywhere, some though it was Benedict Cumberbatch who was thought to be attached at one point. Others thought it was Max Von Sidow’s cyborg character. Some even thought that it was two pieces of dialogue from different parts of the film put together. It has been confirmed that it is in fact Andy Serkis whose character is still a mystery. He doesn’t sound like a good guy and he could very well be tied to the Inquistors who are rumored to be the antagonists of the film. At this point, it’s largely wishful thinking and guesswork.
This trailer fill’s me with all kinds of new hope (sorry, couldn’t resist). I am excited to not only see the return of the jedi (again, sorry) but to see the empire strike back (at this point I’m not sure if I can stop). To see a full on galactic war with updated visuals and some dynamic shots is all I want for Christmas next year. The lack of lens flares is also very reassuring.
The Force Awakens on December 18th, 2015. May The Force Be With You.
Previously: John’s initial review of the trailer.