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[LastNac]

How was that lame? Considering the charges they had him on, why isn't that a good reason to have him locked up? Especially considering his being locked up led to the single best sequence in the entire movie?

I'd rather they come up with a good reason for him to be out of commission rather than come up with a whole bunch of super-awesome stuff that he did in the meantime that I can't watch and will be relegated to spin-off novels and comics that won't be as satisfying as actually WATCHING HIM be badass.

See I disagree, to me it is the adventures that we don't see that makes the world and universe feel so much more alive. To have the Star Wars universe stagnate for 30 years just feels wrong.

I also feel that time can elapse and important stuff go down without you seeing it, the OT is full of these moments. Hell, TCW was practically fought almost exclusively off screen.

Also, if not comics or books then video games certainly can supply these "super awesome" things and be visual.

 

[inm8num2]

http://www.cinelinx.com/movie-news/...wars-episode-vii-goes-back-to-the-desert.html

 

[LastNac]

That sounds great and exactly what I would like for the new movies to be about.

If you are talking about what Lucas always intended for the Sequels then yes, I agree.

 

[Mariolee]

That desert pic: HYPE.

Hype kept at minimum levels though just because the prequels had plenty Tatooine scenes too; didn't make them any better.

 

[Blader]

I like the sound of this new batch of rumors.

It's also pretty amusing, if true, that Cumberbatch's role was genderswapped for Gwendoline Christie's. Because really, they kind of do look alike, don't they?

 

[Perfect Cha0s]

Who said there wasn't a major non-Imperial force?

I'm also not sure why people seem to think the only possible thing Luke could do after RotJ is establish a new Jedi Order. The EU isn't canon anymore and at the end of Ep. VI Luke is someone with great potential but only half-trained and who very recently had his ass kicked by the Emperor. It makes perfect sense to have him set out on his own to learn more about the Jedi and hopefully find others.

My thoughts, too. Luke, despite being powerful, had very little formal training, so him setting out to establish a new Jedi Order seems almost out of character. Taking a few apprentices and teaching them the way he learned from Yoda and Obi-wan is believable, but I can't see Luke creating an entire organization.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Who said there wasn't a major non-Imperial force?

Nobody? I'm saying that the only established group of force-users that we've heard about in this movie so far are Imperials. I think you misunderstood what I meant by force presence, as opposed to "presence of force" or something. Apologies for the confusing wording.

It makes perfect sense to have him set out on his own to learn more about the Jedi and hopefully find others.

That's fair, no doubt. I just see a scenario where Luke is voluntarily peaced-out for two decades causing some of the more tetchy fans to be grumpy, as opposed to the idea he got jumped by bad guys and locked up to do whatever nefarious deeds they want him to do or something along those lines. But then again - who gives a fuck about whether fans are getting hand-wringy if the story is executed well.

But I agree, the idea of a Luke who bails out because he really wants to meditate on whether or not the galaxy even NEEDS a Jedi Order is a cool idea. Because you can definitely make the argument that they sure as fuck didn't HELP anything over the last 60 some-odd years.

And honestly, think about it: He's gotta be TIRED AS SHIT post-Jedi. For Luke, how happy an ending was that, really? The Emperor almost killed him, he had to torch his dad's dead body on a planet full of man-eating teddy bears, his sister is coked out of her fucking gourd, he's seeing ghosts all the time now... I might take a decade long vacation, myself.

to me it is the adventures that we don't see that makes the world and universe feel so much more alive.

Okay, but this is sorta... We're talking about a movie we want to watch. I figure if anything is going to make the universe feel "alive" is watching people DO STUFF. So whether or not they were doing MORE STUFF that we're never going to see is a much smaller concern. Tiny, really.

 

[LastNac]

Okay, but this is sorta... We're talking about a movie we want to watch. I figure if anything is going to make the universe feel "alive" is watching people DO STUFF. So whether or not they were doing MORE STUFF that we're never going to see is a much smaller concern. Tiny, really.

I'm not saying it's not about the immediate film however. I just don't see what is detrimental about beefing up the lore off screen, that is why I liked the EU in the first place. We never saw Han's run in with the bounty hunter from Ord Mantell and it didn't impact TESB in the slightest but it gave the impression that these heroes lived on beyond what we say in two hours. Luke could have been a great warrior for twenty years or so, kicking ass and taking names. There could have been more wars fought, villains defeated and things can still be relevant and grand at the same time.

When I saw Star Wars the line "Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars." gave context to the now. I didn't need to see every battle to know Kenobi was a great warrior and hearing about them developed a legend around the character.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I just don't see what is detrimental about beefing up the lore off screen,

Nothing's all that detrimental, it's just overall not so huge a concern.

The Expanded Universe will come up with something. That's how it works. I disagree with the idea that the storytelling in the movie needs to be concerned with how many springboards they can provide Expanded Universe authors. Worry about how the concept is going to affect the storytelling in the movie first and foremost. The people writing the spinoff books and merchandising can worry about performing their retcon magic later.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

When will ep 7 be done filming? I hope we get a trailer by the end of the year.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I can't imagine we don't get a teaser for the holiday.

 

[LastNac]

Nothing's all that detrimental, it's just overall not so huge a concern.

The Expanded Universe will come up with something. That's how it works. I disagree with the idea that the storytelling in the movie needs to be concerned with how many springboards they can provide Expanded Universe authors. Worry about how the concept is going to affect the storytelling in the movie first and foremost. The people writing the spinoff books and merchandising can worry about performing their retcon magic later.

The movie should be the first and foremost concern but the notion that nothing should happen in 30 years because fans might feel "left out" from a story perspective is absurd.

 

[Joeytj]

When will ep 7 be done filming? I hope we get a trailer by the end of the year.

The original production schedule had filming end by September, but after Ford's injury, it's now expected to be done by Fall 2014, i.e., late October or early November I guess.

But they don't have to finish filming in order to release a teaser. We could get a perfectly good and exciting one with just a couple of scenes and special effects shots already in place, although I honestly believe it won't be until next year that we might see footage, perhaps December, along with the first poster.

 

[Nicktendo86]

New spoilers sound great, makes sense that they would try to

Spoiler

get Vader's remains

makes sense in context of the

Spoiler

new baddie concept art of him looking at what appears to be a broken part of Vader's helmet

 

[Bobby Roberts]

The movie should be the first and foremost concern but the notion that nothing should happen in 30 years because fans might feel "left out" from a story perspective is absurd.

The amount of "nothing" that happens is entirely up to the people paid to be writing about those 30 years once they get that particular job.

it's a fictional universe, after all. There's only nothing until someone decides there's actually something. The Expanded Universe is, and will always be, a healthy realm where Retcon is a powerful, plentiful magic

 

[LastNac]

The amount of "nothing" that happens is entirely up to the people paid to be writing about those 30 years once they get that particular job.

it's a fictional universe, after all. There's only nothing until someone decides there's actually something. The Expanded Universe is, and will always be, a healthy realm where Retcon is a powerful, plentiful magic

I mean specifically in relation to your feeling about wanting to see cool things versus reading them.

 

[Blader]

The movie should be the first and foremost concern but the notion that nothing should happen in 30 years because fans might feel "left out" from a story perspective is absurd.

Especially considering this is a franchise where the first movie was titled Episode IV. Star Wars' whole shtick is picking up in media res.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I mean specifically in relation to your feeling about wanting to see cool things versus reading them.

I still don't get it.

I don't really care what happened in the past 30 years unless there's a reason in the movie to make me care what happened in the past 30 years, at which point I'm guessing it would end up being addressed in the movie itself somehow.

I like the idea of throwaway lines hinting at things out of frame that make the world feel more lived in. I'm less concerned with making those throwaway lines anything other than throwaway just because people are worried about whether or not there's going to be a string of books spinning out of that one throwaway line.

It's just not a concern.

 

[Blader]

I think you guys are arguing different things. LastNac is talking about having things happen off-screen during that 30-year period, not to tease out plot threads for EU writers to pick up on, but just to start off the new movie with the feeling that things have changed since Jedi and everything didn't just grind to a halt.

For instance, Luke being in captivity for 30 years. If that was true, that means Luke has done literally nothing since we last saw him. The concern then isn't that there's no potential Luke Skywalker book for someone else to write and fill that interim with, but that Episode VII will feature a Luke who is effectively the exact same person from Jedi. Which also wastes the whole "30 years later!" narrative.

 

[LastNac]

I still don't get it.

I don't really care what happened in the past 30 years unless there's a reason in the movie to make me care what happened in the past 30 years, at which point I'm guessing it would end up being addressed in the movie itself somehow.

I like the idea of throwaway lines hinting at things out of frame that make the world feel more lived in. I'm less concerned with making those throwaway lines anything other than throwaway just because people are worried about whether or not there's going to be a string of books spinning out of that one throwaway line.

It's just not a concern.

Specifically in the case of Luke being imprisoned for 30 years. I get why people don't like that notion because it prevents anything from happening off screen and it is kind of a cheap cheat to work around with the chronology of things.

I'm not looking for massive plot details to be missing but I wouldn't mind the notion that a few wars have been fought since we last saw these characters. Hell, I'm down for killing Lando offscreen as well.

 

[LastNac]

I think you guys are arguing different things. LastNac is talking about having things happen off-screen during that 30-year period, not to tease out plot threads for EU writers to pick up on, but just to start off the new movie with the feeling that things have changed since Jedi and everything didn't just grind to a halt.

For instance, Luke being in captivity for 30 years. If that was true, that means Luke has done literally nothing since we last saw him. The concern then isn't that there's no potential Luke Skywalker book for someone else to write and fill that interim with, but that Episode VII will feature a Luke that hasn't done anything or changed at all since Jedi.

Exactly. We have gotten very little content that takes place between Ep. 3-4 and yet it is a 20 year gap. Things certainly feel like they transpired and by extension the galaxy grew outside of the films.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

For instance, Luke being in captivity for 30 years. If that was true, that means Luke has done literally nothing since we last saw him.

I have a hard time believing anyone who has been in any sort of prison for 30 years is going to be the "exact same person" at the end of that time period. Or further, that there's NOTHING in that 30 years that can't be turned into a story itself.

Hell, you guys are just writing off a prime opportunity to read the Star Wars equivalent of Green Mile or Shawshank Redemption.

 

[Abounder]

Luke basically sounds like a combination of Abrams' time travelling Spock and the Enterprise Captain (not Kirk, the old guy who got captured) complete with a flashback exposition sequence.

And I think Luke could be busy despite being captured, such as through force visions and communicating with ghosts. If you want to write EU you can include attempts at escaping or re-imagine Mara Jade as a fallen rescuer or guard-turned-prisoner, etc etc etc. Throw in a bothan or two for good measure

 

[LastNac]

I have a hard time believing anyone who has been in any sort of prison for 30 years is going to be the "exact same person" at the end of that time period. Or further, that there's NOTHING in that 30 years that can't be turned into a story itself.

Hell, you guys are just writing off a prime opportunity to read the Star Wars equivalent of Green Mile or Shawshank Redemption.

No thank you.

And given that his break out will be depicted in Ep.7 I don't really see how it could be either of those examples.

 

[liquidtmd]

Teaser? Hell at Christmas all they'd have to do is get Hamill in a simple getup saying a few words and coming out of the shadows to conclude it. Id lose my shit and it would fit with Abrams' minimalist viewpoint for teasers.

I really hope Hamill gets a significant enough role to shine in this. Not inspired by Ford or Fisher coming back.

 

[Blader]

I have a hard time believing anyone who has been in any sort of prison for 30 years is going to be the "exact same person" at the end of that time period. Or further, that there's NOTHING in that 30 years that can't be turned into a story itself.

Hell, you guys are just writing off a prime opportunity to read the Star Wars equivalent of Green Mile or Shawshank Redemption.

Okay, but the thing is...that's boring. Nobody wants a fuckin strung out, emaciated, PTSD Luke who has been locked up for 30 years (however that's meant to work). After Episode VII was first announced and people immediately began speculating about what Luke has been up to in the 30 years that have passed, in both the story and real life, how many people said, "Oh, you know what would be interesting? If Luke actually had no journeys whatsoever and has just sat in the same place since then"? I'm willing to bet no one. Maybe you.

At the end of the day it's just personal preference, but I think a lot of people -- myself included -- want to see an older, wiser Luke with years of experience and adventures under his belt, not decades of solitary confinement. Not because we want a dozen Luke Skywalker novel spin-offs, but because we want to see someone in the movie with that kind of weight, whether they ever elaborate on it or not.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Okay, but the thing is...that's boring.

Doesn't have to be. (shrug)

 

[LastNac]

Okay, but the thing is...that's boring. Nobody wants a fuckin strung out, emaciated, PTSD Luke who has been locked up for 30 years (however that's meant to work). After Episode VII was first announced and people immediately began speculating about what Luke has been up to in the 30 years that have passed, in both the story and real life, how many people said, "Oh, you know what would be interesting? If Luke actually had no journeys whatsoever and has just sat in the same place since then"? I'm willing to bet no one. Maybe you.

At the end of the day it's just personal preference, but I think a lot of people -- myself included -- want to see an older, wiser Luke with years of experience and adventures under his belt, not decades of solitary confinement. Not because we want a dozen Luke Skywalker novel spin-offs, but because we want to see someone in the movie with that kind of weight, whether they ever elaborate on it or not.

"Hey Luke, watcha been up to?"

"Sitting."

 

[Bobby Roberts]

"Hey Luke, watcha been up to?"

"Sitting."

It's weird to want to read all these expanded universe books that don't exist yet while also harboring a basic distrust that the people writing it can be more creative than you are.

 

[WadiumArcadium]

Okay, but the thing is...that's boring. Nobody wants a fuckin strung out, emaciated, PTSD Luke who has been locked up for 30 years (however that's meant to work). After Episode VII was first announced and people immediately began speculating about what Luke has been up to in the 30 years that have passed, in both the story and real life, how many people said, "Oh, you know what would be interesting? If Luke actually had no journeys whatsoever and has just sat in the same place since then"? I'm willing to bet no one. Maybe you.

At the end of the day it's just personal preference, but I think a lot of people -- myself included -- want to see an older, wiser Luke with years of experience and adventures under his belt, not decades of solitary confinement. Not because we want a dozen Luke Skywalker novel spin-offs, but because we want to see someone in the movie with that kind of weight, whether they ever elaborate on it or not.

I personally wouldn't mind that. I'd probably buy all of them.

 

[LastNac]

It's weird to want to read all these expanded universe books that don't exist yet while also harboring a basic distrust that the people writing it can be more creative than you are.

Listen here Prince, there is only so much a man can do in prison, especially since we seem him break out on film. Those kinds of stories don't really take us anywhere.

Or at the very least nowhere from an action standpoint, the psychology of Luke Skywalker in prison would be yes, kind of boring.

Spoiler

And yeah, I maintain you still look like Prince.

 

[Blader]

It's weird to want to read all these expanded universe books that don't exist yet while also harboring a basic distrust that the people writing it can be more creative than you are.

Don't know why you keep harping on this, no one is making that argument.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Don't know why you keep harping on this, no one is making that argument.

Yeah they are

I'm not "harping" on anything, either. Jesus.

 

[Blader]

Wanting Luke to come into this movie with years of adventures and crazy Jedi experiences and shit like that under his belt isn't the same thing as wanting to read books and play games about Luke's years of adventures and crazy Jedi experiences and shit like that. It's just inherent background material to help fill out the character and overall sense of progression.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Wanting Luke to come into this movie with years of adventures and crazy Jedi experiences and shit like that under his belt isn't the same thing as wanting to read books and play games about Luke's years of adventures and crazy Jedi experiences and shit like that.

But for some people, that is absolutely a concern, and it's that concern that drives them to verbalize their worry. This is obviously not the case for you. So then don't address that specific part of my counter-argument as it doesn't apply personally.

Lemme know if that sounded harpy.

 

[LastNac]

But for some people, that is absolutely a concern, and it's that concern that drives their worry. This is obviously not the case for you. So then don't address that specific part of my counter-argument as it doesn't apply personally.

Lemme know if that sounded harpy.

Bro, put the harp down.

Blader has pretty much articulated my biggest fears about the whole "being in prison for thirty years" thing. It's not a question of wanting to know the individual stories that transpired in the gap, it is a matter of knowing that things could have transpired.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Bro, put the harp down.

 

[mattiewheels]

Spoiler

They killed many Ewoks

Spoiler

Many Ewoks died to bring us this sequel.

 

[temp]

Yeah I'm with Blader and LastNac. I feel like part of the appeal of the movie is that it's a gigantic universe full of wonder and adventure and stuff. I think Joseph Campbell himself said that part of what makes Star Wars work is that it takes place in a field of the unknown—space. If everything in that world takes occurs on-screen, it becomes a little more quantifiable, and the characters and actions feel a little less mysterious and fantastic.

 

[DodgerSan]

I just want the world these characters are in to be as colorful and busy as Guardians of the Galaxy was.

Loving the new enemy and trooper designs.

The plot just depends on how the actors and script pull it off.

Totally agreed - Guardians looked like a real, working universe.

Also, isn't all EU stuff not applicable to this movie?

Common misconception. Specific histories, such as Luke & Mara getting married and having a kid called Ben aren't going to happen. But if they want to pull ships, people, planets, creatures that they like from the EU they certainly can.

For the sake of the Making Of and Art Of books though, I hope they go with all new stuff. I don't need a book of Z95's and Zeltrons

 

[maharg]

Guardians gave me hope that Disney might actually be a worthy steward of Star Wars. I came out of it thinking if Episode 7 is half the Star Wars movie Guardians of the Galaxy was, it'll still be better than anything we've gotten since the early 90s.

 

[DodgerSan]

Eh, Rome is more complicated than The Empire. The Empire was designed to die when Palpatine and Vadar were dead. Cut off the head yadda yadda shit. While The Empire takes after Nazi and other civilizations the end of the Empire was the death of Sidious and Vadar. Any remnants after simply don't exist with how the Empire was run: power, murder, and fear.

Obligatory.

 

[Doublesith]

Drew "Moriarty" McWeeny over at Hitfix did a rumor roundup. No new stuff, but he does clarify/corroborate a couple of things with his own sources:

On the opening shot of the movie:

Spoiler

"What I have heard from my own sources since this was reported is that it's sort of right, sort of wrong, and that we'll actually see a lightsaber, not a hand. That lightsaber will look familiar to "Star Wars" fans, since it is the property of Jedi master Luke Skywalker, who has supposedly been missing for at least a decade as this movie begins."

On the villains:

Spoiler

'The word "Inquisitor" has been thrown around a lot in the last week, but the people I know who are working on the film insist that term is not accurate, and that there are no characters in the film referred to as "Inquisitors." I notice that the denials I get specifically have to do with the word that was used and not the general description of the characters. It seems likely that we're going to be watching one primary Sith-based character who is responsible for keeping the Order alive a full generation after the death of both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.'

About an "unaltered" OT re-release: "That Blu-ray rumor is wrong in all sorts of ways."

hitfix.com

 

[Currygan]

If so,I respect Luke a whole lot more. I never saw him so crafty and cunning.

yes, he's really smart. and besides, Vader couldn't have beaten ROTS Palpatine imho, his skills were on par with Yoda's, both in force-manipulation and combat. Of couse what we see in ROTJ is just a cranky fella whose only power is to discharge electricity, tho Vader still didn't "beat" him in a sense

 

[Ether_Snake]

I think you guys are arguing different things. LastNac is talking about having things happen off-screen during that 30-year period, not to tease out plot threads for EU writers to pick up on, but just to start off the new movie with the feeling that things have changed since Jedi and everything didn't just grind to a halt.

For instance, Luke being in captivity for 30 years. If that was true, that means Luke has done literally nothing since we last saw him. The concern then isn't that there's no potential Luke Skywalker book for someone else to write and fill that interim with, but that Episode VII will feature a Luke who is effectively the exact same person from Jedi. Which also wastes the whole "30 years later!" narrative.

I'm vindicated by Hollywood!

Here's what I said back in June!
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=116912981&postcount=111

Unless JJ doesn't know what he is doing, and I doubt it, Luke CANNOT be anywhere else than where he was at the end of ROTJ. Just like King Arthur, Neo, Jesus, Captain America, Master Chief at the end of Halo 3, Luke can only be "frozen" until we see him again, meaning that when we will see him again he has to be the one we are most familiar with, the one that has the least been affected by the events of the time, but has become holier/divine. He is the connection between the audience and the original trilogy. The other characters can, but not Luke, he's from the template of the hero in the invisible land, waiting for the time to return. Or in SW's case, he's away to heal and not fall to the dark side, he wants to avoid becoming a threat to others.

So I won't believe anyone who claims Luke didn't just go away in isolation since ROTJ until it is officially confirmed. We have to be picked up right where we left him. Luke is not a "character", he is an archetype. If JJ doesn't get that, he's taking the wrong approach.

Luke is hiding somewhere, until the surrounding area changes or someone stumbles on him and he realizes things have changed for the worst and he must step out. He cannot be changed by events that have happened since we last saw him and his return since he is our vehicle to this new "era". We are supposed to be as much in the dark as he is.

Someone get me a screenwriting job, I'm not expensive.

And to add to all this, Luke has probably chosen to remain captive all along. He was in no hurry to escape. Until the events that unfold in this movie. Like I said in my original post, he probably got wiser/more powerful as a result of staying isolated. He would have been a danger to his friends outside before then, but now circumstances require him to come out, because a greater danger is looming. And this can only end with self-sacrifice (I could elaborate on that point, there's only one way JJ can do it right).

His changed behavior to a wiser Jedi implies a certain level of disconnection with the audience, so another younger character will fill his former role. But his lack of knowledge about the current events will tie us to him and make him a vessel to carry us back into this universe.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

I like you, Ether Snake. I like that post.

 

[Altazor]

what does this meeeeaaaaan?

https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/501572808162304000

 

[GAMEPROFF]

what does this meeeeaaaaan?

https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/501572808162304000

Oh shit

 

[Rootbeer]

what does this meeeeaaaaan?

https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/501572808162304000

Wish it were not a joke honestly

 

[Mariolee]

IF EDGAR WRIGHT IS MAKING A FUCKING STAR WARS MOVIE I WILL PISS MY PANTS AND EVERYONE ELSE'S PANTS TOO.

Edit: Awesome, top of the page. For those that didn't see at the bottom of the last page:

what does this meeeeaaaaan?

https://twitter.com/edgarwright/status/501572808162304000