Hey folks, Harry here... Ok... So I've watched the second teaser alot. A whole lot. There's a reason I've been hesitant to discuss any spoilers on STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. It isn't because I don't know alot about it... In fact, this weekend's news from the trailer and the panels, pretty much completely confirms Bothan Spy of mine, and the reams of information he sent me... But, here... let me give you an example.
JAKKU. JAKKU is all over the opening act of the film. But as described in the materials, it sure as hell sounded like JAKKU was just code for TATOOINE, when JJ confirmed it - suddenly my jaw dropped, because - well - after that, when he showed the 2nd Teaser - and I'm seeing things like a TIE FIGHTER firing inside of what's a TIE Fighter Hanger on a Super Star Destroyer if memory serves... Well, I know everything about that scene. Just like the moment where John Boyega takes a bloody Stormtrooper helmet off. I know why.
Now, don't get all conspiratorial on me. DISNEY didn't threaten to assassinate me. LUCASFILM hasn't gotten to me. What has gotten to me, is me.
When I created AICN, it almost entirely came out of a 15 year quest for information, on whether or not we'd ever see more STAR WARS movies get made. When Steve Sansweet made that presentation in 1995 in College Station - and Merrick & I were in the room - and we were the only ones to write about it, pre-AICN... It put us ahead of the game. For many folks I know, writing about that talk of Steve's was the first real sign of life in The Force. When it became clear that George was concentrating on the PREQUELS... I had no personal qualms with not only finding every spoiler - but sharing as much as possible... mainly because, what George was doing was so incredibly different from the original trilogy... that I felt, if you're not prepared for what a Jar Jar Binks is - or what Pod-Racing was... well, as an Eagle Scout, it was important to me, that fandom BE PREPARED.
With THE FORCE AWAKENS... it's a bit different. We, as STAR WARS fans, we're not sure what the scope of these stories are. Which characters will eventually be inexplicably related after we have all sets of established feelings for them, which then makes us all feel collectively icky and giggly.
Early on with THE FORCE AWAKENS, I told you. IT IS TIME TO DREAM AGAIN. TO HOPE AGAIN. And I mean that.
I will only give you one piece of information that was not at STAR WARS CONVERGENCE. And that is who is inside that TIE FIGHTER firing in that hanger. It is none other than the hottest flying pilot in the Galaxy, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and a fairly traumatized STORMTROOPER named Finn (John Boyega) - and yeah, they're trying to escape the FIRST ORDER (aka The Empire).
Now - how about just a general reaction for the trailer? Ok?
The trailer goes a long ways toward allowing folks to dream about this film. ANd that's a powerful and good thing. But - I mean what I'm about to say. There are immense spoilers that you do not want to know for this film. Most of what you're seeing in the trailer is the front of the film. That X-WING & Forest stuff is a bit later.
You know that shot of Daisy Ridley's "Rey" on vehicle in the far distance as you see that crashed STAR DESTROYER - well she's on her way to go meet someone key. There's also a reveal on that character that I think will blow minds. AND if anybody spoiled it for me, I'd have to kill.
But I do know. But the thing is - Scooping is about a lot of things. Sure, you can drop any detail you want once you've read a script or have the breakdowns for the entire film. But as an example.
Somebody leaked the post-credit scene from AGE OF ULTRON. I was checking my Twitter feed and somebody who got spoiled and was upset had written a pissy tweet that passed that spoiler right along. I mean, if you go out there and search and find the clip and you watch it, you've at least earned your spoiler. You could spoil it for others without thought in something like a tweet or a FACEBOOK notice, or create a meme to spread it faster, but then... THAT SUCKS.
It sucks because I didn't have to click something to discover that news, it was just there in front of my eyes, before I could do anything about it. No Spoiler Warnings.
But this STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - there's a lot of stuff that I could tell you. I can describe the opening shots or even the closing shots - but I don't want to be that person on this movie. I just know, beyond any doubt, that it's pretty much exactly the film I was hoping for. There are a few holes. Missing pages here and there. Things that never needed to be on a set.
My personal favorite moment of the trailer is the flying upside down STORMTROOPER in that Finn & Poe scene... or Luke putting his hand on R2D2 with Embers blowing from something... or... "We're Home Chewie!" - I mean, it's kinda hard to beat "We're Home Chewie!" but... for me... I think I'll just weep like a child when I see the legendary Luke Skywalker talking to his old friend onscreen with dialogue from Kasdan. I mean. It'll just be perfect.
Most of the time, I try to act like I don't know a damn thing, but when I think of where Daisy's "Rey" is headed, or why Boyega's Finn is so exasperated when he takes that bloody Helmet off, or why Luke's hand is placed on R2...
In just the same way that JJ used your STAR WARS knowledge against you - against us all... I mean, there I am reading JAKKU and just assuming that's code... I love that it isn't. That in a galaxy far far away, there's a lot of desert systems... and it could also have a different kind of star system that it is in... although, if you're an astonomy nut, you know that Binary Star systems are more common than systems with a star precisely like ours.
I hope that Lucasfilm and JJ will make further announcements at D23 and Comic Con this summer - but how they handled CELEBRATION was perfect. I loved being able to watch the panels from home - that'd be an amazing innovation at HALL H at COMIC CON if they could do it.
Then... STAR WARS ANTHOLOGY: ROGUE ONE. - What's there to say? The proof of concept piece was so blurry by every version that appeared on youtube that i saw... but with the audience's reaction - and then the myriad of description that were coming... It just sounds like a Star Wars wet dream. If you're a fan of THE CLONE WARS - you know that there are battles that took place there, that were so much better than any of the battles in STAR WARS HISTORY... Making a full on War picture set in the STAR WARS universe that's about a crazy mission to acquire the DEATH STAR PLANS - well... that speaks to every geeky bone in my body. That one concept art piece was even a cooler piece than the video in many respects.
Just - I hope you realize that BOTHANS did not die by the many, for the DEATH STAR PLANS - that was RETURN OF THE JEDI, and it wasn't so much the DEATH STAR Plans, but the Emperor's schedule for bringing the DEATH STAR online! Too many make that mistake.
Anyway, I have to go be a minister now.
Keep it cool,
Harry
