Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens

[GhoulEddie74]

I like the new X-Wing Pilot jumpsuits. They still have the basic feel and outlines of those worn by the classic OT pilots but a natural evolution over the course of more than 30 years of galactic history and the progress of and changes within the Rebellion. Poe Dameron looks like an X-Wing Pilot, just with a modern twist.

 

[Zombie Cheerleader]

Leia will make a reference to scruffy nerf herders, whatever the hell those actually are.

Maybe we'll actually get to see them.

I'd settle for a well groomed nerf herder.

 

[GhoulEddie74]

Late '80s Harrison Ford in a tuxedo it is, then.

 

[Iamnotspock]

She's a youthful 31.

Carrie Fisher was 19 when she filmed ANH.

Her age and inability to deal with her fame some would argue was would lead to her eventual drug abuse.

That, and John Belushi.

 

[J.T.B.]

Plus, she feigned a good "royal," upper crust accent and her voice sounded so much more mature than her actual age when the original movie was filmed. She exuded a certain gravitas that went far beyond her years, both as Carrie Fisher and as Princess Leia Organa.

Well, she was Hollywood royalty! But the ability to combine a "hard" leadership quality with an underlying sweetness was the reason Lucas said he cast her over future Berlin frontwoman Terri Nunn. (Nunn was also still a minor, which would bring labor issues.)

 

[GhoulEddie74]

It's hard to picture Cindy Williams from Laverne & Shirley in the role of Princess Leia, but she was a frontrunner for the job when the casting was underway. I imagine if Fisher and Nunn hadn't been the top two picks to fill the role that Cindy may have gotten it and she'd have achieved global superstardom far above and beyond anything she ever experienced on even a #1 hit sitcom.

 

[theenglish]

It's hard to picture Cindy Williams from Laverne & Shirley in the role of Princess Leia, but she was a frontrunner for the job when the casting was underway. I imagine if Fisher and Nunn hadn't been the top two picks to fill the role that Cindy may have gotten it and she'd have achieved global superstardom far above and beyond anything she ever experienced on even a #1 hit sitcom.

I love thinking about what movies would have been like if the first choice actors had been cast. Often fate plays a huge role in shaping the cultural memories we all have from film.

Think if Tom Selleck had been Indiana Jones, Jack Lord had been Captain Kirk, Eric Stoltz had been Marty McFly, Ripley had been played by a man, and many others.

 

[GhoulEddie74]

And the same applies to television roles. What would Voyager have been like had Genevieve Bujold not been replaced with Kate Mulgrew just one or two days into filming the very first episode? A Voyager afficionado or not, that has to make a Trek fan think and ponder how dramatically different the series may have turned out.

 

[theenglish]

And the same applies to television roles. What would Voyager have been like had Genevieve Bujold not been replaced with Kate Mulgrew just one or two days into filming the very first episode? A Voyager afficionado or not, that has to make a Trek fan think and ponder how dramatically different the series may have turned out.

As a French Canadian (whose family is actually British) I was stoked to see Bujold's name attached to the series. The official story is she didn't have good chemistry with the cast but I have never really heard what happened there. I've seen the footage of her screen time but there is not enough to really judge how it would have worked out.

Regardless, Voyager's problems were not in the acting or the cast. Although I dislike the series it is my wife's favorite version of Trek primarily because of Mulgrew's portrayal of a strong female Captain.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

It's being reported that the toy line for The Force Awakens will hit full force early September. Be sure to buy your BB-8s.

In the meantime, a few products have come out.

Best of all is the new Vanity Fair cover. It actually looks like Ford is enjoying himself!

 

[Ithekro]

I think that's the first visaul confirmation of C-3PO in the film (we know he was going to be there as Anthony Daniels was present at the read though).

Daisy looks and awful lot like Portman on that magazine cover

 

[GhoulEddie74]

Here's the packaging design for a lot of the new Episode VII toys, as just revealed by the official Star Wars website:

 

[Ithekro]

Having one, just like that would be awesome and disturbing.

 

[JD]

It looks pretty much like the same style they've been using, just red, with Kylo Ren instead Vader or Yoda. I like that style, so I like the design.

 

[GhoulEddie74]

It reminds me quite a lot of the 1999 Episode I toy and other merchandise packaging that officially premiered in stores 16 years ago today. There's also a little bit of a similarity to the 2007-08 TAC (30th Anniversary Collection) design, giving it a nice hybrid feel.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

The Phantom Menace first line had Darth Maul where Kylo Ren is

 

[GhoulEddie74]

True. Actually, Maul's face was usually in the upper left-hand corner of 1999 and 2000 Episode I packaging instead of the right, but yeah his image served the same purpose.

 

[Rincewiend]

So...

Spoiler: Kylo Ren

The rumors were true. Driver's Kylo Ren is indeed the bad guy, "command[ing] star troopers loyal to the evil First Order on the frozen plains of a secret base." The photo shows him dressed in all black, leading storm troopers across a tundra.

Nyong'o will play a CGI character, Maz Kanata. We don't yet know on which side of the Resistance she falls, but according to Vanity Fair, she's a pirate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/04/adam-driver-star-wars-character_n_7203404.html

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

May the Fourth Be With You, as well as some new pictures!!

Poe Dameron, the best pilot in the friggin' galaxy...

The villain, Kylo Ren (confirmed to be played by Adam Driver) leading Snowtroopers. Whether this is a movie still or just a shot of him without his mask between takes is something I don't know

It feels like 1977 all over again

Rey BTS

There's also a photo out there of Lupita Nyong’o getting into character as Maz Kanata, but since that character is CG, we'll have to wait and see how that comes out. Apparent Maz Kanata is a pirate. More pirates, less Gungans

 

[JoeZhang]

Second looks like a photoshop of two scenes - the Snowtroopers we saw in some footage with the footage of him on a desert planet.