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:: A trilogy of fan-fic set after Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and inspired by George Lucas' historical draft concepts ::
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| November 2014 |
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Episode VII title AND teaser trailer !!
29th November 2014 |
At the beginning of November, Star Wars Episode VII suddenly had its title revealed ! The next installment in the Saga will be henceforth known as The Force Awakens ! Following the rumoured plots, it's an apt name, not just with the role of Luke Skywalker and his Jedi Order, but of course marking the grand revival under Disney, Kennedy, and Abrams. Oddly, early signs are that it will be losing the 'Episode VII' moniker that we've all come to expect. Retaining this would make sense for the primary Saga - the Skywalker story no less ?! - but the various stand-alones would obviously be un-numbered. So we shall just have to wait and see how this plays out. One worrying thought is that this Sequel Trilogy represents a continuation of the Saga that doesn't so closely follow the Skywalkers, even if Luke and Leia (and any offspring) are present within the story - perhaps the focus will move away from this especial family ??! I for one, hope not ; I'd like to think this ST installment is very much part of the existing six episode lore.
And then at the end of the month - yesterday no less - after an announcement earlier in the week confirming a presentation at 30 U.S. cinemas, the teaser trailer aired online ! It was wonderful to see live-action Star Wars imagery once more since 2005, and after all the plot rumour and speculation, it was great to see elements starting to fall into place : John Boyega as the crash-landed stormtrooper, speculated to go rogue and change his loyalties ; Daisy Ridley and her rolling droid apparently off to rescue him ; a flight of X-Wings skimming over water ; a Sith Lord in a wintry forest igniting a hilted cross-beam lightsabre ; and the Millennium Falcon - with 'new' rectangular sensor dish, Lando having inconveniently lost the round one in the Second Death Star - looping around against a pair of TIE fighters above a desert, and - 'excitingly' !! - presenting contrails in the planet's atmosphere ! Although the Falcon is accompanied with the iconic Star Wars fanfare, the preceeding footage had what appears to be original John Williams music. Fansite MSW was one of the first to provide a handy and detailed breakdown of the teaser trailer.
Surprisingly, and frustratingly, there were no reveals of the OT characters ; likewise, the dramatic effect of relatively long pauses in black merely made one wish they'd filled those breaks with new material !!
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| Interestingly, shortly after the production's 'wrap party' at the beginning of November, it was reported that some cast remained for a day or so of final filming...... and this included a now-beardless Mark Hamill ! Does that mean that he has some substantial screen time after the climactic events ? Or might his fate mean that he re-appears as a clean-shaven Force Ghost ??! |
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| Shortly after the wrap and the final days of principle production, both SW7news and MSW posted rumour-reports regarding Luke's fate and the climactic scenes : not only has Luke become such a powerful Jedi, thus leading to self-imposed exile directly due to his own concerns about the power he wields, but the finale apparently sees him squaring up against an old friend and his son....
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In mid-November, MSW reported on characters that referenced pirates. The site says the Montross sketches from pre-ANH were part-inspiration, and they felt that, in the pre-production conceptualising stage, these 'pirates' would be found on the desert planet where Daisy Ridley's character is introduced.
However, shortly afterwards, the site revealed details of a "pirate cove", though this time they believed it to be distinct from the desert ruffians, and instead had become a base of operations for the rebels. However, they note that rumours have associated this location with both a finale with a cyborg as well as the heroes returning home....
And then this was followed by the intriguing report that the oscar-winning actress, Lupita Nyongo, may be codenamed 'Rose', who has a chamber at this "cove / rebel base", and that, tied in with a report from fansite 'starwars underworld', she may be playing a mo-cap character with additional traditional puppetry ?!
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| The thrilling dogfight above the stoney deserts of Kessel continues in our Virtual Edition of Episode VII : Plague of Doom ! |
| Several TIE fighters pursue Master Wonroff and his Devil Squadron wingmate. The A-Wing and Coraller bravely jink back and forth evading the enemy fire ! |
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| In this old image by Scott, Master Wonroff Emanon barks an instruction to the Jedi student in the Coraller to bank and draw the fighters with him.... |
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| As the Coraller banks away and draws two TIE fighters with him, the Jedi Elder swiftly cuts his engines, drops below the last TIE, and then, re-firing his engines, blasts the TIE out of the sky ! The Jedi apprentice leads the remaining two enemy fighters back around, just as another Jedi Master, Sieg Lettow, corrals two TIEs up towards his friends' cross-fire.... |
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| You can see the VE artwork in the 'Kessel' art gallery as well as in the online illustrated story, and you can discuss this in the forum here ! |
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| Nathaniel Reed, 29th November 2014 |
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