Star Wars: Episode VII Revisits A Classic Scene And Possible First Footage
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There’s been a lot of talk surrounding Star Wars: Episode VII about how the new film, and everything the new Disney-owned Lucasfilm produces from now on, will connect and fit into the larger Star Wars universe. From what has been said, there’s also a large emphasis being placed on capturing the feel of the original trilogy in the new works, something the prequels failed to do in any way. If the latest Episode VII reports we’re hearing are true, they’re definitely going for that, maybe by even recreating one legendary scenes, or at least something very similar. There’s also a little bit of clarification of the plot, as well as what could be the first look at footage from the actual film.
Here’s where we warn you that there are SPOILERS lurking beyond here. It feels like we’ve entered an era where the boogey man has hiding under your bed has been replaced by spoilers hiding on the Internet, but maybe that just means we’re nerds and we’re growing up.
The first part of this rumor comes from Star Wars 7 News. Episode VII’s plot, as we understand it from unsubstantiated reports, revolves around Daisy Ridley’s character, who we believe is named Kira, on a mission to track down Luke Skywalker with John Boyega’s character, who may or may not be an AWOL stormtrooper. At some point, they enlist Han Solo and Chewbacca (who may have a mechanical hand) in this quest. That’s what we “know” at this point, and it’s also been proposed that Kira may be Han and Leia’s daughter, but the new part is not the meeting, it’s where they meet.
According to this new report when Kira and Boyega meet Han and Chewie, it’s very much an updating of the classic Cantina scene from A New Hope. Here’s what they have to say about it:
Daisy arrives to Cantina in search of Han or Luke I believe. She is confronted by an alien, she lifts her blaster to him, he then takes it from her hand “Don’t point a blaster at someone if you are not going to use it” and points it at her. At this point Chewie (With arm Bandaged/In a Sling) intimidates the alien, “What good is a one armed wookie” Chewie then rips the guys arm off and hands the blaster back to Daisy. Ford was not present at filming this, BUT……….
Cut to the outside of the Cantina as a Planet/Moon is blown up outside, Han is present here (Wearing a thin cut, waist length leather jacket, boots etc, a “Matching outfit”) oh and he still has his blaster I don’t know if he has just arrived to meet up with Daisy and Chewie, but he is cutting through the crowd of onlookers as everyone is witnessing the destruction of “Whatever” was blown up in the sky.
Sounds familiar, right? From the setting to the characters to the menace down to the very reason Kira is there in the first place, this is an obvious homage to the original trilogy. If this is real, and if this makes it into the final cut—both big ifs—it will be interesting to see how this plays to crowds. Will they love it and roar with approval, or will it come across as cheap and cloying, an obvious attempt to play on our nostalgia?
Another report, this one over at Jedi News, offers a little bit of clarification about the plot. The same basic set up remains in play, but the motivations are somewhat different. Searching for Luke is still one of the objectives, but that’s more of a means to an end, rather than the ultimate goal. According to this article, the new additions are on a mission or have a problem, one that they think they can deal with. That’s not the case and they find themselves overwhelmed, and the search for Luke begins because they want to enlist his help.
Here’s what the report says
The concept of “Luke is missing/needs to be found” in Episode VII is being approached somewhat from the wrong angle in other rumor reports. The source says the “find Luke” premise is based off the cast of young characters (Ridley, Boyega, others?) trying to deal with a problem they uncover that they feel they can overcome themselves, presumably something relating to the machinations of the Sith and/or Empire. They feel confident in their abilities to attack this challenge head-on and quickly realize they are severely out-matched and way out of their league. So they alter their plans and scramble to enlist the aid of Luke, who is unaware of the situation (and how rapidly it escalates to a problem that requires his immediate attention) at the time of his “searching” by the young cast.
Given what we’ve already heard, this approach makes a great deal of sense. If the core of the story was just searching for Luke, who has been missing, you have to wonder why none of his friends have gone after him in the years (supposedly around a decade or so) that he has been gone. If he went into self-imposed exile, it’s likely he told the people he cares about that he’s going, but he’ll be fine, and not to come looking for him.
And now, onto what could be our first glimpse at what Episode VII, the actual film, may look like. The other day, a site called Technobuffalo posted a video (which has since been taken down, but there are screenshots floating around, like HERE) of what could be footage from the film (it’s shot on a cell phone looking at monitors). Then again, it could totally be fake. We’re not going to post them, because we don’t want to get sued, but follow one of those links and you should be able to see them for yourself.
The screenshots have a Disney watermark, and also identify the set as “Luke’s Refuge” and the location as Skellig Michael, the picturesque island off of the coast of Ireland. You see what appears to be a dark chamber and a hooded, bearded figure (maybe rugged looking Mark Hamill?), both of which fit with that big ass, thermonuclear spoiler that dropped the other day. There are also images of a hooded figure, possibly the same one, wandering around the landscape.
As usual, none of this is official, and we’ll have to wait and see if any of it is in the actual film when Star Wars: Episode VII opens everywhere on December 18, 2015.
