Giant Freakin Robot

Since the very moment it was announced, there has been an endless stream of chatter and speculation surrounding J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and that won’t end for some time. It’s probably the most anticipated movie since the first prequel, The Phantom Menace, so you have to expect that. We’ve heard all kinds of rumors and reports about the various characters, old and new, but of the fresh additions to the franchise, there hasn’t been all that much circling around Domhnall Gleeson’s character, that is until now.

There are loads of potential spoilers beyond this point. You’ve been warned. Also, this is an unofficial report from unnamed sources, so take it with a grain of salt and make of it what you will.

Odds are, if you read this site on any kind of regular basis, you’re a Star Wars fan to some degree and are probably excited for the upcoming The Force Awakens, at least a little bit. I sure am going out on a limb, aren’t I? Part of the reason you’re looking forward to this is likely because we know that we’ll get to see some of our returning favorites from the franchise, especially Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. While we’re stoked to see some familiar faces, we don’t really know how much we’ll be seeing them, and one cast member indicates that it might not be all that much.

As usual, there are possible spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens beyond this point, so tread carefully.

No matter what, for good or ill, Hayden Christensen will likely never be able to escape the shadow of his time spent in the Star Wars universe. To be fair, the same can be said of others, especially Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher—whatever else they’ve done in their careers, whatever their successes or failures, we’ll always think of them as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. (Harrison Ford, for his part, managed to move beyond his Han Solo character.) For all of the things people criticize about the prequels (even if you’re a fan, you have to admit, they’re widely panned films), one of the elements most often pointed out and derided is Christensen’s performance as Anakin Skywalker, who, of course, becomes Darth Vader (sorry if I spoiled that for anyone). Still, he’s not without his supporters, including one very famous champion, a little dude we like to call Nicolas Cage.

The two actors worked together on the upcoming fantasy adventure Outcast, and while doing press for that film, Cage took a few moments to praise his costar to IGN, specifically his turn in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. He says, “I watched George’s movies, and the work Hayden did with George, and I was very impressed with Hayden’s sort of edgy, dangerous, dark and still soulful performance. I thought it was superb. And so I really connected with him.” He also calls Christensen a “lovely man,” and hopes they can continue to be friends.

Hey, remember the other day when everyone was reporting that Tatiana Maslany, the uber-talented star of BBC America’s clone drama Orphan Black, was going to be the female lead in Gareth Edwards’ upcoming standalone Star Wars spinoff? Well that might not be as written in stone, or, you know, as correct, as people thought, and it’s now being reported that instead of Maslany, Felicity Jones won the role.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jones beat out Maslany and Kate and Rooney Mara, as well as a variety of other actresses who weren’t named in reports ahead of time, for the undisclosed part. She is reportedly officially in talks with Lucasfilm for the film and they suspect to hear more soon.

Doctor Who is already as much fairy tale as science fiction. A crazy eccentric visitor who lives inside a magic box and invites young people along on amazing adventures — in a world without Who, that could easily describe some lost work by Roald Dahl. But what if the world of The Doctor instead collided with another beloved children’s author — one with whom he shares a fake doctorate. The results might look like the image up top, the brilliant work of a deviantARTist calling himself DrFaustusAU. He’s given a Seussian makeover to tons of science fiction staples such as Star Wars, Alien, and Predator. Great Seuss’ Ghost, just look how cute his Daleks are!

Star Wars fans have a whole new trilogy to look forward to once The Force Awakens hits theaters later this year, but during the off years between episodes we’ll also be getting standalone spinoff films featuring…well, we don’t really know yet. But the first of those spinoff films suffered a potential setback earlier this month when screenwriter Gary Whitta parted ways with the project. Now we know who will be taking Whitta’s place: Oscar-nominated screenwriter Chris Weitz.

The news comes via THR, who report that Weitz will be taking up Whitta’s lightsaber on the upcoming Star Wars spinoff film, which is currently slated for a 2016 release and is being directed by Gareth Edwards (Godzilla). Weitz is best known for co-writing/co-directing the 2002 flick About a Boy, based on the novel by Nick Hornby, which earned him and his brother Paul an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also wrote and directed The Golden Compass in 2007, a failed would-be franchise starter based on Phillip Pullman’s controversial novel. More recently he tackled another YA franchise by directing The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The Twilight connection might unnerve some Star Wars fans, but that’s a case where it’s the source material that’s the problem, far more so than Weitz’s directing it.