Hey youtubers it's Charlie and today must be a Star Wars day because there was a ton
of Episode 7 info that dropped. There's the new stormtrooper designs, the supposed villains,
the main villain and even some plot details. Lucasfilm has officialy said nothing about
it all, but this video will be a breakdown of everything. And I'll be sure to mention
which rumors are more likely. I don't necessarily consider it spoilers if it's just a rumor,
but just in case I'll remind everyone when we get there. My friends also did a podcast
with Rian Johnson who’s directing Episode 8. So I’ll also mention what he said about
the movie.
If you're just finding me for the first time I'm going to be doing weekly Rebels and movie
videos pretty soon so be sure to subscribe to get everything.
So pretty much confirmed stuff first, the new Stormtrooper designs. Just like with the
original trilogy there are variations for the normal armor and for desert climate. Remember,
part of the movie will be on Tatooine.
It’s just a much sleeker modernized design. I know a lot of you on twitter were asking
why there was a need to update the classic design. Really I think it’s just JJ Abrams
visually conveying that a lot of time has passed and certain things have evolved. Everything
is really close to what you remember, it just looks like a few things have been updated
as tech evolved. Episode 7 is supposed to take place about 30 years after Return of
The Jedi. Just to put some scale on it.
A lot of you are also asking about what the Empire’s role is in the new trilogy and
what’s changed since the Battle of Endor. Yes, shit went down and the Empire got it’s
ass handed to it. But the Empire didn’t take all of their resources to Endor. There’s
still millions of Imperial soldiers all over the galaxy with their own fleets.
When I get to the villain and potential spoilers I’ll talk about it more specifically, but
essentially the Empire is still around, some of the brass at the top has changed. It’s
like Walmart. Just because the executives go away doesn’t mean new ones don’t step
in to fill the vacuum. The bureaucracy of the Empire was all about advancement. There’s
always someone younger and more evil ready to steal your job when you get thrown down
an elevator shaft.
So spoiler portion for the villains. This is just a rumor, but all the same just skip
forward in the video like 45 seconds if you don’t want to know anything. Since you guys
requested it, I’ll add this little text bug too while spoilers are still going on.
I’ll wait just a sec...okay, here we go.
The big rumor is that a bunch of crewmembers from the movie were being laid off recently
and it led to some villain leaks. The details are that The Inquisitors are the big antagonists
and the main villain is the head inquisitor. There’s no info about his name or if he’s
tied to the Inquisitor in Star Wars Rebels, but supposedly, that picture JJ Abrams tweeted
last week, the one with the droid hand, belonged to the main villain. He’s a mostly cybernetic
sith inquisitor.
This is supposedly an image of him. No idea if this is fan made or real concept art. But
it’s been sweeping the interwebs all morning. If it’s true, picture him as being darker
grittier version of Darth Vader. Like when Vader’s headpiece came off and you could
see more machine parts covering his skull.
It makes sense that JJ Abrams would want a more terrifying villain. But the big question
is, are they going to humanize him like they did with Darth Vader in Empire and Return
of the Jedi?
There’s no info saying who the villain was before he became a cybernetic Sith Inquisitor.
But here’s why I think this rumor is true. Or partially true. Using the Inquisitors in
the new films lines up with what Lucasfilm has said about Rebels being canon and characters
from the cartoon being featured in the films.
More spoiler rumors. Supposedly there will also be Darth Vader flashbacks that tie in
with the Sith Inquisitors. Luke Skywalker is supposed to have a monologue in flashback
explaining how Vader started using the Inquisitors to hunt down Jedi. Which is already happening
in the cartoon this fall.
The reason this is a big deal is it means Vader really does have a small role in the
new films. He’s dead though, they’re not changing that. But they are changing the rule
of two. As in the Inquisitors will be retconned into the original trilogy.
It’s just a way for them to explain, hey “This group of bad guys have been working
with Vader and the Emperor the whole time” and just because Vader and the Emperor died,
it doesn’t mean the Inquisitors stopped what they were doing.
They’d just seize control of the Empire and continue the mission. Supposedly Leia
also gets flashbacks to Alderaan that tie in with them too. That’s why Carrie Fisher’s
real life daughter was cast in the movie. For a young leia flashback cameo.
All those villain flashback things are just rumors right now. But they sound very plausible.
I’ll be doing weekly Rebels videos so as long as you watch those videos and the tv
show you’ll be up to speed. That premiere’s in october. Stay tuned for an exact date.
They haven’t announced it yet.
There was also some concept art for Han Solo that posted. It’s old Han in his Hoth Gear.
It implies that we’ll see Hoth but most of the talk was about how authentic the images
were. And whether or not the insignia on the jacket was changed from the original in Empire
Strikes Back.
Supposedly there will be no New Republic in the movie, so they’re still part of the
Rebellion. For those that didn’t read the expanded universe novels. The New Republic
was the new government that rose from the ashes of the Empire in the 10-15 years following
Return of The Jedi.
They are ditching a lot of the expanded universe but it doesn’t mean we won’t see Mara
Jade or other big fan favorite characters.
There was some confirmation that on the Rebels Cartoon they’re including the Rex droid
from the Original Disneyland Star Tours ride. I kind of consider that to be expanded universe.
So there is hope for them including other things.
On to Rian Johnson, for those that don’t know. He was hired to write and direct Episode
8, scheduled for release in 2017. He just did a podcast with my friend Emily at Grantland
and mentioned some really cool things going on behind the scenes.
I’ll have a direct link to said podcast in the description along with twitter links
for my friend. She’s one of the smartest people I know and her podcast Girls in Hoodies
is a lot of fun. She does a lot of cool science fiction and pop culture writing. So if you
do check it out be sure to leave them a nice comment and tell them Emergency Awesome sent
you.
Rian Johnson has spent some time on set in London while they’re filming Episode 7 and
he got super excited when he saw how much of the movie is being shot on old school physical
sets. Like they’re building big X-Wings, the Millenium Falcon. Just like they filmed
the original trilogy on.
It’s going to give it this amazing tactile feeling that I think a lot of us felt was
missing from the prequels because most of that was shot digitally on green screen.
If you look at some of the pictures and video JJ Abrams has been posting you can see a lot
of real life creatures in the background. It almost makes it feel like Jim Henson came
back to life and started making cool new Star Wars puppets.
I think of all the things I’m hoping to see in the new movie the most are Han and
Chewie old school scoundrel comedy. A couple of twists on jokes from the original trilogy.
There’s a lesser rumor that Oscar Isaac wins the Millenium Falcon from Han in a card
game and he has to get it back.
Luke Skywalker doing something really really crazy with the force that we’ve never seen
before.
And Brienne of Tarth being a badass Inquisitor. Like imagine Gwendoline Christie if she were
playing the Hound or even dial it up a notch and make her freaking crazy like The Mountain.
I could talk all day about favorite stuff I’d like to see. The hope is, that they
won’t play too much to nostalgia. They’ll just focus on telling a new story using a
few familiar things.
I’m actually more excited for Rian Johnson’s Empire Strikes Back. The second movie in a
trilogy is always the best. Most of the time it’s the best. If you haven’t watched
any of his movies watch Looper and Brick. Those are my favorites of his.
And be sure to listen to his podcast with my friend. Feel free to embarrass her with
praise as long as it’s nice. Molly Lambert is the other person on the podcast, I’ve
never met her in person but I’m also a big fan of hers.
In case you missed it I was running a Star Wars funko pop giveaway during Comic Con.
Congratulations to Shadow Artist. You get your choice of star wars funko pop. I’ll
message you on your channel for details.
My next star wars video will be a review of the big clip they posted. be sure to subscribe
to get it. They basically posted most of the first episode for you to watch for free.
In the meantime click here for this week’s Legend of Korra. Some shit went down. I’ll
add the annotation as soon as I post it. And click here for my big Star Wars Rebels Breakdown.
Thanks for watching, see you guys tomorrow. High Fives!