Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 14

J.J. Abrams' Secret Star Wars

     This week has been one of the slowest weeks for Episode VII news, tidbits, and even rumors. Only one rumor has emerged.

     With Lucasfilm pushing the release of the CGI animated TV show Star Wars Rebels, which is set in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, for fall of 2014, a rumor sprang up about the characters to be set in it. Specifically Mara Jade, a character from the Expanded Universe (The books and video games and whatnot), is set to be in some episodes of Rebels. Not only that, but she will be tied into Episode VII using that show. Where did this rumor come from? The answer is a fansite called Star Wars 7 News, citing an "anonymous source". Here's the quote:

       "It can be said, that Rebels will introduce Mara Jade, into the film canon, sometimes appearing with the           Inquisitor and she will be the living mother of Ben Skywalker. Episode seven takes place, in 30 ABY.           Jacen, and Jaina will be to Ben what Han, and Leia were to Luke. Ben is around the same age as his             cousins. Chewie will be alive, and this is an all new timeline from 4 ABY forward."

     Okay, okay. Let's try to decipher this mess. For the record, ABY stands for "After the Battle of Yavin". Mara Jade, the Inquisitor, and Jaina, Jacen, and Ben are all from the Expanded Universe, which included material from the post-Return of the Jedi timeline, created in the 1990s after Star Wars had run its course in films. It became popular after the success of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. In fact, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command were all considered to BE Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. That is, before the Lucasfilm-Disney agreement, which is the entire reason I am writing this post. And that's the problem-- the books were written because no one expected Lucasfilm to make any more films. Reading was the only way to get a Star Wars fix. So when the new trilogy was announced, the EU seemed obsolete. That's not saying it should be discarded. I'm saying it should be kept seperate from the films. I mean, sure, some general can be in some scene with Han, Luke, and Leia (because they WILL be in the sequels) and mention something like "the Thrawn incident" in a report or something to give the EU fans a hheart attack from giddiness, but the major characters from the EU should stay out. The EU has gotten so bloated from 20 years of tangled canon, it can be left alone, and the movies should stay away.

     The creators of Rebels actually have announced a new character, though, but it definitely isn't Mara Jade. It's an R2-D2-esque astromech droid named "Choppers", who is made out of spare parts. Finally, Lucasfilm is moving away from prequel-level CGI shininess and is embracing the "used universe feel to it. Way to go, Disney!

     One of the reasons this week has been so slow in Star Wars news is because of J.J. Abrams' refusal to give fans a scrap of information about Episode VII, which is understandable because the movie is two years away. But he said to the Telegraph,

     “Are you kidding me? My god. My office… I’m working on the Star Wars script today and the people in       my office have covered up all my windows with black paper. I guess they wanted to make sure no one         could see what I was doing.It seems rather extreme.”

     This tells me that the staff at Bad Robot are slightly paranoid. However, this could also mean that the script for Episode VII hasn't been completed, even though he previously said it was. This could signify inner struggle within the company. This could lead to the collapse of Lucasfilm!

     Or not. This could all just be a smokescreen to the real attraction, which is the announcement of the original cast returning or something of the sort. However, the release of information to fans is not the number one priority for Bad Robot. It's the making of a great movie. J.J. Abrams has repeatedly stated that his top goal is making a great film. How can fans get in the way of that? Isn't that what they want? Do they have any faith in the new team at the helm? They need to trust J.J. Abrams. They have R2-D2, they have Lawrence Kasdan, they don't have George Lucas, they have lens flares, everything will be fine.

     Juuuuuust fine.

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 13

Original Cast to Star in Episode VII? CONTINUED

     This week has in Star Wars news has been almost exclusively casting rumors. One of them features Judi Dench. According to Big Shiny Robot, the actress is set to play Mon Mothma in Episode VII. The James Bond costar has not acknowledged this claim, but it could be feasable. After all, Return of the Jedi's Caroline Blakiston, who played Mon Mothma, actually does look like Judi Dench, and both of them were born just a year apart (Blakiston in 1933 and Dench in 1934), so it could be completely possible. However, I see no reason how they couldn't just use Caroline Blakiston again, seeing as she would most likely be cheaper to hire, as she hasn't been in any blockbusters besides RotJ. However, if the production team wants to spare no expense, then I guess they could put Dench in the film, if for nothing more than to put her name with other A-list actors (This is not recommended. Star Wars has always used relative unknowns, such as Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford).

     Another rumor for Episode VII that doesn't really involve Episode VII is that new "information" (rumors) has come in on the fabled Boba Fett spinoff, which might or might not be about Boba Fett. According to Screenrant, the plot revolves around the Boba Fett from the prequels, who is a clone of his father like all of the Stormtroopers, apparently gets killed by a random stranger, who takes his identity and outfit. I personally like that idea, because it will sever one more tie to the prequels the original trilogy has. The more distance between the prequels and the sequels, the better. But alas, Kathleen Kennedy stated that the spinoff films with have no impact on the episodic films. Oh, well. Moving on.

     J.J. Abrams has delivered the news: the Episode VII script is finished! Abrams stated, "We're working really hard and we've got our script and we're in deep prep," and "Full steam ahead, you know?" When aked about its length, he said, "Oh, it's movie length."

     Well that's good to know.

     This rumor is a continuation from lasts weeks rumor about the original trilogy stars reprising their roles. In an interview with TVGuide, Carrie Fisher stated that she was going to start filming in March or April 2014. She said, "I'd like to wear my old [cinnamon bun] hairstyle again — but with white hair," she says. "I think that would be funny."

     Well. Nobody knows if this was a joke or not. I mean, this has happened several times before, and each time Fishers reps come and shut the rumors down. So this is what I expect them to do over the next several days.

     This is where the plot thickens, my lovelies.

     Mark Hamill had been in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), when the question arose, naturally of course, if he would be in Episode VII. He dodged the question, as any movie star has done when asked about Star Wars. Then he said, "The only character I know for sure is returning is my friend R2-D2" followed up by "Haha. I'm not being coy, really. When I find something out, I'll let everybody know. But nothing has been decided yet." So, conflicting reports on both fronts? A yes from Fisher but no from Hamill? Tune in next week to see what happens! 

Star Wars Episode VII News: Week 12

Original Cast to Star in Episode VII?

     2014 opened without any announcements about Episode VII, not surprisingly, and there have been no announcements since. However, that is not true for the rumors, which make up 95% of all things Episode VII. The first announcement of January began not necessarily with Episode VII news, but news that could have an impact on it. According to StarWars.com, Lucasfilm and Marvel have teamed up to create new Star Wars comics, giving Dark Horse, Star Wars comic publisher since 1991, the boot. This wasn't the first time Marvel and Lucasfilm made Star Wars comics together. Marvel started making Star Wars comics in 1977, three months before the original Star Wars came out. We all know this is prepping us for the inevitable Star Wars-Avengers crossover in the 2020s. I shudder thinking about it. But, in other news, a Boba Fett spinoff movie is in the works, according to Aceshowbiz. Apparently, Lawrence Kasdan is going to work on the screenplay. That is literally all the information that was available. No source, no release date. Nothing. Moving on.

     According to Metro, Yoda is to appear as a Force Ghost in Episode VII. Yoda will have a cameo and spew generic things to Luke, talking about an "unbalance in the Force". Yes, this may seem obvious, but, once again, no source, no nothing. Moving on.

     On a much more important note, Disney has announced that the canonity of Star Wars is all the same.

All right, now the Thrawn trilogy is legitimate canon and that green bunny from the 1977 Marvel-Star Wars comics is official! Not so fast. This could also mean that it will be completely abolished. Lawrence Kasdan has said that he would like to "start fresh". This means that nearly 40 years of canon will be dumped, the good and the bad. OR it could mean that some things will be left and some will be dumped. But who would decide that? This issue will become larger once the release date for Episode VII draws nearer. Stay tuned.

     On to the main issue. The Hollywood Reporter has stated that the original cast, Mark Hammil, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford are going to be in Episode VII. But they aren't going to have little cameo roles. They will be the stars.

     According to the theory, the reason Michael Arndt was dismissed from screenwriting was because he wanted to focus on the younger generations, specifically the children of the OT characters. However, J.J. Abrams wanted the original cast members to go out with a last hurrah before being relegated to cameo, Obi Wan Kenobi style roles in Star Wars Episode VIII. This means the children of the Skywalkers will be in cameo roles in Episode VII. Adding to this is a massive script overhaul that is the reason that the release date was pushed back to December. All of the pieces fit together! It's amazing! However, I just can't imagine Harrison Ford, Mark Hammil and Carrie Fisher running around shooting 'em up. It's not their age, I mean, I'm sure they could do it, but it seems like after 30 years, they would have matured and maybe started training other Jedi or something. Maybe retired. I don't know. Yes, Obi-Wan Kenobi was running around the Death Star in Star Wars, but he wasn't the main character. I'm not saying it can't be done, because it can, but that it might not be in character for them. So, we'll see...