Giant Freakin Robot

We all knew that since Disney bought Lucasfilm and now owns Star Wars we were going to see that universe grow and expand like never before. There are already books, comics, and an animated series, as well as half-a-dozen movies in the works, but holy crap they are not messing around. Even though the Expanded Universe of novels and other properties that have existed for years has been scrapped, deemed non-canon, that doesn’t mean that Lucasfilm is abandoning that expansive approach, and they have plans to release an avalanche of new, officially canon material.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Disney, along with Worldwide Publishing and Lucasfilm Press, plans to release “at least 20” Star Wars books this year, a series titled Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This is all designed to capitalize on the hype surrounding the impending release of J.J. Abrams’ film, which opens December 18, and much of the ground covered falls between the original trilogy and the new films, serving as a link between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. After all, a lot can happen in 30 plus years.

When we’re talking about a movie the size of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the trailers get more hype and attention than most of the other films that hit the theaters in a given year. Every single frame of the one that dropped back in November has been examined, poured over, and milked of every last drop of potential information. And now it’s time to move our attention to the next trailer.

We’ve heard that the next look at The Force Awakens will show theatrically with Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the most recent news has it making its public debut at Star Wars Celebration in mid-April. Latino Review has been all over the Star Wars beat since day one, and they’ve had contact with multiple sources, all claiming to have seen a similar trailer, and shared the description with the world. There are spoilers for the trailer beyond this point, if that’s even a real thing. This report is, obviously, unconfirmed.

That Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer pretty damn awesome. Even months later I still watch it at least once every other day or so. But while it introduces us to most of the key new additions to that far, far away galaxy, it’s noticeably light on familiar faces. That, of course, was a very conscious choice, and J.J. Abrams admits that there has been a great deal of back and forth as he and Lucasfilm try to decide what to show, what to leave out, and how to best market their film.

For many of us, that moment on December 18, when we sit down in that movie theater and the lights go down for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is going to be something we’ve been waiting a long, long time for. It’s hard not to get a little bit giddy about the prospect of seeing new Star Wars on the big screen, and now, thanks to a new report making the rounds, we’ve got an idea of what we’re going to see right off the bat.

As usual, there are potential SPOILERS beyond this point. Also, this is an unconfirmed rumor from an unnamed source, so take it with a grain of salt and make of it what you will. PSA over.

At this point, what would a day talking about sci-fi be without a potential spoiler for Star Wars: The Force Awakens? That would probably be a day we slept through, or maybe the day the internet finally breaks. But today is not that day, so there is the obligatory potential SPOILER, and it’s a doozy, like, maybe you don’t necessarily want to read this one.

Seriously, there are SPOILERS beyond this point, like the kind we feel a little bit bad about posting. But you’re grownups and can make your own decision.

At this point, who the hell even knows how many rumors there have been about the plot of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and however many there are, there are only going to be dozens more before we hit the December 18 release date. With all the swirling, conflicting reports, we don’t know what to believe, and we won’t know anything for certain until we finally sit down in that darkened theater—Disney, Lucasfilm, and J.J. Abrams sure as hell aren’t going to tell us much, if anything. But returning franchise star Mark Hamill have outed one of the biggest rumors floating around as being total BS.

Just a warning, there are potential spoilers beyond this point, but you probably already knew that.