Giant Freakin Robot

Most of the recent attention focused on Star Wars centers on The Force Awakens. That makes sense, as it’s the first new film addition to the franchise since Revenge of the Sith in 2005, and it drops in less than ten months. Still, in addition to the Episode films, we also have a variety of standalone projects in the works, and one of them may have just found their lead.

Be warned, there are potential spoilers for the standalone Star Wars films beyond this point.

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.

There has been a great deal of time over the years devoted to the what-if scenario, what if Star Wars met Star Trek? If you’re in the mood, you can Google enough fan fiction in this realm to fill your reading list from now until the day you die. But just in case you’re not in the frame of mind to read, you can check always out this awesome new fan made video.

As the Star Wars universe expands exponentially, we’re going to get to meet all kinds of new characters and go on all sorts of fun new adventures. And of course we’re going to get to hang out with some familiar faces as well, most notably Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. That’s pretty awesome. When we found out that some characters were going to show up again, it kicked off an avalanche of speculation about who might return, and when we found out who, people were bummed that maybe their favorite was left out. With so many more movies on the way, there are ample opportunities for others to reprise their roles, and one former player thinks that he will be back for another movie eventually.

One notable absence in Star Wars: The Force Awakens is Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian. That’s a bummer, as lots of us would love to see what he’s been up to since he blew up the Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Lando did show up recently on the animated series Star Wars Rebels, with Williams providing the voice, and though he won’t be on the big screen come December 18, he expects that it is only a matter of time before he rejoins that far, far away galaxy.