“Star Wars: The Force Awakens:” Trailer Review

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Jack Havemann, Staff Artist

It has been 32 years since “The Return of the Jedi” was released in theaters concluding the story of Luke Skywalker and his friend’s adventure to destroy the imperial empire. Now, director J.J Abrams teams up with Lucasfilm to extend the most memorable franchise with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

The Star Wars celebration kicked off last Thursday, April 16 with J.J Abrams releasing the second trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The trailer reveals the original cast as well as new characters that are being introduced into the Star Wars franchise. John Boyega plays the new character Finn along  with Daisy Ridley who plays Rey; each appearing several times within the trailer. We are also introduced to the new Sith lord in town, Kylo Ren, who has the lightsaber that emits three blades as opposed to one. I believe that Kylo Ren will be leading the new army of Storm Troopers against the rebel alliance that kept peace in the galaxy after they destroyed the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi.

–POTENTIAL SPOILERS–

At the beginning of the trailer, we hear the voice of Luke Skywalker himself narrating about how his family is strong with the force. We are shown a clip of a rotting Darth Vader helmet as Luke says “The force is strong in my family… my father has it… I have it… my sister has it… you have that power too.” Luke mentions that his father “has” it, rather than saying he “had” it. Does this mean Darth Vader, also known as Anakin Skywalker, will be making an appearance in this movie? Will he be there to guide Luke or the new characters the same way Ben Kenobi did in the original films? Also, I think Luke may be talking to a son or daughter because he mentions how the force is strong in his family. I don’t believe that Luke would say this unintentionally, I think he might be referring to his own family. Did Luke start a family with somebody, or is it a child of Leia and Han?

During Luke’s explanation of how the force is strong in his family, we are shown a clip of a lightsaber being passed over to somebody. It’s important to mention, though, that it isn’t just any normal lightsaber… it is Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber from when he was a Jedi, which was given to Luke by Ben Kenobi. Somehow, Skywalker’s lightsaber survived the fall from Cloud City in “The Empire Strikes Back,” and lands into the hands of Finn. I say the lightsaber will end up with Finn because in the concept art of his costume, it shows the same lightsaber hooked to his jacket. Does this mean that Finn is, or will become, a Jedi?

We are also given a chance to see where “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be taking place. From the looks of it, a good majority of the film takes place on Tatooine, the desert planet home to both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the original saga. There was also a short scene on a snow covered planet with storm troopers ready for battle. Will there be another battle on Hoth?

At the end of the trailer, Han Solo and Chewbacca make their first appearance since Return of the Jedi when Han says “Chewie, we’re home.” It looks like they are standing in the Millennium Falcon. We never found out if Han got the Millennium Falcon back from Lando in “Return of the Jedi,” so this may be the first time Han and Chewbacca step foot into the fastest ship in the rebel alliance since the last movie.

What are your thoughts on the trailer? Please let me know if you agree with some of the theories or questions I talked about in the comments.