What a week for Star Wars!
It all started when Empire Magazine began trickling out stories on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The first article, gave us some key info. Namely that Kylo Ren was not a Sith, and that Snoke was a powerful figure in the Dark Side of the Force. We also got the concept that the First Order was in many ways modeled after the Nazis, and the concept that what if the Nazis went to Argentina and regrouped. The crazy thing is, the Nazis actually did go to Argentina! So this analogy isn’t too far off. The full Empire magazine also came out, and you can find scans of the article here.
Mazlow01: This was very cool and fits well with the OT. Its obvious the original Empire was modeled after the Nazis and not surprising that JJ and LK would look to history to inform how they would set up the threat to our heroes after RotJ. We were already working on an article about the First Order and this actually confirmed some of our suspicions. Look for that later this week. I’m also glad they said Kylo wasn’t a Sith though I wish they had said the same with Snoke so that damned Plaguies rumor would die.
davestrrr: Has it already been a week since this news? Man, time flies. This explanation of the first order probably isn’t too far off from what people had predicted. Expect an editorial on the TFO coming soon from this site. I always felt that Kylo couldn’t be a Sith because of the whole rule of two thing and that the point of the end of RotJ was to end the Sith because both of them died. This does beg the question of where did the Knights of Ren come from? Where does the name come from?
We also got some news from the official site about BB8 and how he was created. We got further confirmation that he is in fact a practical effect. We also learned that there were many different puppets and robots created, each for different types of shots.
Mazlow01: I think what a lot of people missed was on set BB-8 wasn’t as fully functioning as we thought… or at least there want one prop/droid that did it all. They used a combination to get it right, which honestly I like. It shows dedication to doing it the best way possible no matter what.
davestrrr: I really like BB8 and he is shaping up to be really cool. This article gives a sense of how expressive he will be, and the fact that there are so many puppets made, one for each occasion, should mean that he will be able to do a lot of things and convey a lot more emotion than one might expect.
Next we got a mini trailer with new shots of Rey with BB-8 which appears to match the shot description from MakingStarWars.com of Rey watching the First Order attack Maz’s place. And the shot de Triumph of Finn igniting his lightsaber in the same snowy setting we first saw Kylo Ren ignite his in the very first trailer.
Mazlow01: Ok so this made may day. I must have watched it 50 times and I’ve come to two conclusions. One MSW has got most of the plot and scenes correct. Two I don’t think the sequence of Kylo lighting his lightsaber and Finn igniting his are as close as it seems in the trailer. I believe Kylo ignites his then tracks them for a minute. Threatens and taunts Finn and Rey and Finn decides he has to fight after what Kylo says.
davestrrr: This was pretty cool and will hold me over until the trailer hits, I think. Maybe we’ll need another 15 second one in mid September to get us through? Credit where due, the fine folks over at MSW predicted these two shots for the last trailer. Of course, a lot of people noticed that they didn’t make that trailer, but here they are exactly as predicted. They must have gotten pulled from that trailer so that they could be saved for this one.
In other news, we got a slew of news from toys coming out and hitting the shelves in anticipation for Force Friday. Among them are Asty, the bullhead X-wing fighter pilot, and the mysterious Sarco. Take a look at the toys here, and the images from a coloring book here.
davestrrr: These are really cool. These background characters are shaping up to be very true to the original star wars and unique at the same time. We know Asty is a X-wing pilot, but Sarco is a mystery. Maybe he will be in the little market place on Jakku and comes into contact with the main characters? Not that I know, but somehow Sarco reminds me of sort of a Garindan type character, that may play a small role, but a key one.
Mazlow01: I’m loving Asty. Hopefully he’ll be in multiple films because he’s such a great design. Sarco to me looks like a Jakku resident, my guess is he lets the First Order know where to find Rey. Either way both designs are really cool looking and just put me in that Star Wars state of mind.