Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

[BadKarma]

Well if the guy is on Girls then he can definitely convey a sense of dread and sadness.

I feel like this show is not actually that terrible

[Greedouw]

I think he looks more like Kyp Durron... Wasn't he a baddie for a little bit?

[Vagrant]

Yeah during the Jedi Academy trilogy when he was possessed by the spirit of Exar Kun.

[Greedouw]

He's supposed to play a "Vader-like" character and neither of the Triocufag characters are anywhere near Vader (save that stupid ass glove)

[Qeomash]

Wild speculation: childhood friend of Jacen and Jaina Solo, trained by Luke, turns evil, etc etc.

[6souls]

Casting and Story rumors

Production on Star Wars: Episode VII is on a roll, and today we have an update on casting for the film and the story it will tell. The following news comes from MarketSaw, which has been a reliable source when it comes to Star Wars: Episode VII news. They broke the news that Lucasfilm was going to get started on the new Star Wars trilogy in the first place. The same source that fed them that information as well as several other Star Wars news items is back with some more good news. When it comes to the casting of the film, this is what they revealed,

Ian McDiarmid, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Warwick Davies, Benedict Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman. I believe Cumberbatch and Oldman were pursued for the same role, but I don't know how that will work out with the script changes, but I'm told they are both involved.

The site previously broke the news about Ford, Fisher, and Hamill. They are now confirming the rumors about Cumberbatch and Oldman, which is great! They go on to talk about pre-production issues that have occurred,

Many Star Wars pre-production issues, an 'inadequate' central story which nobody would stamp off on, a problematic initial release date and an 'indecisive' director (J.J. Abrams) with the hardest gig in the industry. It's not going to be a cakewalk, but it will be a product shipping with the majority of its original parts.

As for the story that the filmmakers plan on telling, they say,

Ultimately it's about twins, and which will take a path towards darkness and which will follow in their father's footsteps, or at least that is what it used to be, that may come later as I think changes are being undertaken to bring the original cast into the forefront of the story leading to ramifications that lead up to the next generation of Skywalkers.

http://geektyrant.com/news/star-wars...d-story-update
http://marketsaw.blogspot.com/2014/0...l#.Uwu0M3ddUgE

[Vagrant]

Wild speculation: childhood friend of Jacen and Jaina Solo, trained by Luke, turns evil, etc etc.

Which would be Zekk the little orphan boy they were friends with during the Young Jedi Knights series before a fallen Jedi discovered something that neither Luke, Jacen, Jaina, or Leia ever noticed the numerous times they met the boy and that he was strong in the force and recruits him to his new batch of force users training with the Dathomiri Night Sisters before he eventually turned good again and joined the Jedi.

[6souls]

[Vagrant]

They already came out on twitter and said it was fake

[Qalbert]

oh thank fuck I was about to get all butthurt

[BaneTheBrawler]

ugh i would rage so hard

[Ohemgee]

Episode 7 takes place 30 years in the future.

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/18/55...rn-of-the-jedi

A new Star Wars film is getting closer by the day, and Lucasfilm and Disney have just announced some new information on the status of the production. Episode VII — co-written and directed by J.J. Abrams — is set to begin shooting this May at Pinewood Studios in London. For the first time, however, the team is giving an indication of what fans can expect to see when the film hits theaters in 2015. According to today's release, it will take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi, which capped off the original Star Wars trilogy, and "will star a trio of new young leads along with some very familiar faces."

The latter reference is no doubt a nod to what has been rumored for months: that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill could return to the franchise to reprise their roles as Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker. Jedi came out in 1983, just over 30 years ago, which would bring the ages of the older actors and their characters right into alignment. As for that new trio of leads, casting rumors have been running rampant, with Adam Driver (Girls) recently named as a likely candidate to play the villain. None of the casting information has been confirmed just yet, but with May the 4th — unofficially known as "Star Wars day" — and San Diego Comic-Con coming up, we wouldn't be surprised to see some very big announcements made before the end of summer.

Book nerds, please enlighten me

[Krandor]

That's a relatively untouched area of the time-line, there was only one book series covering the span between ABY 34-40 (which was set in ABY 35 so this might not overlap).

It would be immediately following the end of the big Yuuzhan Vong war, which could provide a decent jumping point without needing too much explanation for the average audience member outside of "there was a big war, good guys won"

[BaneTheBrawler]

ummmmm that might actually put it at the Vong invasion. lemme see if i can find the continuity chart

edit: oops, didnt see your post, krandor. looks like you're right; that would put it just after the Vong invasion. But... the Vong invasion only spanned about 5 years, so it's conceivable they could tinker with the timeline to make it fit.

here's that part of the timeline (spoiler obv)

Spoiler: show

35 – 36 ABY – The Dark Nest Crisis.
35 ABY
Efforts to rebuild galactic civilization after the Yuuzhan Vong war continue, with many war-torn worlds still under reconstruction.
The Jedi, struggling to come to terms with a new role in the galaxy and a new philosophy on the Force are called upon to act as police and diplomats by the Galactic Alliance, despite the wishes of Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker sees an image of his mother for the first time through R2-D2.
A mysterious alien race called the Killiks with a leader very strong in the Force, who are ancient enemies of the Chiss return, with some of the younger members of the Jedi interfering, and becoming part of their alien "Hive," physically and mentally joined to each other.
Voren Na'al publishes the New Essential Chronology.
36 ABY
The Swarm War occurs.
Luke Skywalker witnesses a hologram, kept by R2-D2, of his father leading the slaughter at the Jedi Temple, as well as another one in which Anakin was Force-choking his mother.
The Conclave on Ossus convenes.
Allana is born to Jacen Solo and Tenel Ka Djo.
The Legacy era
40 ABY – Second Galactic Civil War

the vong invasion spans from 25 ABY to 29 ABY so yeah. There's a bit of a gap there, between 29 ABY and 35 ABY. Sounds like they might try to squeeze in there. And actually, it's important to note, Return of the Jedi actually takes place in 4 ABY so it offsets things a bit.

[Krandor]

I just pulled one up. Unifying Force was 29 ABY, next thing in the time-line was Dark Nests trilogy (never read it, so dunno what's up with it) which was 35. Movie is looking to be 34 ABY

[Sonomaa]

Im almost positive they said that the continued movies would supersede all of the EU and its continuity

if I were doing it, I would just move the thrawn trilogy forward 30 years and go from there. that series of books remains some of the best in the extended universe and would serve as one of the best starting points.
plus moar chewbaca

[Titanss]

this will be the best movie ever made.

[Krandor]

Im almost positive they said that the continued movies would supersede all of the EU and its continuity

That was established years ago. Iirc it mostly stemmed from Lucas hating Dark Empire and wanting to remove it from existence.

[BaneTheBrawler]

yeah honestly i'm not opposed to tinkering with the EU, removing some and adding new stuff, but I'm hoping they'll keep some of it, adapt it to fit the new timeline. Thrawn especially.

[Vagrant]

I think a lot of the characters(Thrawn, Mara, Talon Karrde, etc.) from the EU will be incorporated but events and origins are going to be changed around.