The Force Awakens Bits: An Iconic Duel Was Reshot, Domhnall Gleeson On General Hux, And Filling In That Poe Dameron Plot Hole
Another day, another collection ofStar Wars: The Force Awakensnews stories in bite-sized form! In today’s edition of The Force Awakens Bits:
Fans have already debated and thoroughly picked apart Rey’s big flashback sequence inThe Force Awakens, but it turns out that there was almost more for us to chew on.Making Star Warsreports that the sequence originally contained shots of Luke Skywalker’s duel with Darth Vader in Cloud City as seen from Rey’s perspective. And now, a new children’s novel told from Rey’s perspective actually contains the deleted moment:
As she peered into the distance, she saw a man in black wielding a red Lightsaber. His face was covered with a mask, molded to approximate a human face. But the mask’s eyes were dead and empty. The man’s red Lightsaber clashed against a brilliant beam of blue. A young man with blond hair raised his own Lightsaber and fought furiously against the monster in black.
Making Star Wars believes this scene was actually shot (a “Young Original Warrior” was cast), but will we actually get to see it? I would guess no, but you never know what will resurface when the subject is as popular asStar Wars.
Domhnall Gleeson had one hell of a 2015, appearing inThe Force Awakens,Ex Machina, andThe Revenant. The exciting young actor sat down with theLA Timesand, naturally, he chatted about General Hux and how his physical appearance informs his motivations:
I liked him because he allowed me to explore the notion of authority — he’s someone who enjoys authority and holds onto it at all costs. The costume was brilliant and added a whole other layer for me. We talked about the idea that he’s an obsessive and probably doesn’t sleep much. So he was pale with dark eyes. We wanted him to look like somebody who was dead set on one thing.
Hux didn’t gettoomuch to do inThe Force Awakens, but it’s easy to imagine that changing inEpisode 8. You don’t hire an actor like Gleeson and then just let him stand around in the background.
Speaking of characters who will hopefully have more to do inEpisode 8, Entertainment Weekly caught up with Gwendoline Christie and asked about why Captain Phasma remains under amor for the entirety ofThe Force Awakens. Her answer is thoughtful and detailed:
I thought it was a really interesting opportunity because as an actor I’m interested in transformation and different kinds of roles. What’s the role about? Who is the character? What does the character mean in the function of a project or story? I thought it was a really interesting opportunity to play a female character where we formed an opinion of her based on her actions rather than the way she has been made flesh. And that concept within aStar Warsmovie, a mainstream phenomenon, was very modern and interesting and exciting. I made no secret of the fact I wanted to be in the film, I campaigned hard to be in the film, but to be in it asthatkind of character – she’s a woman, she’s in armor, the armor isn’t sexualized, and in the film we don’t see the actor’s face – I thought that was an exciting, modern concept. And obviously, I’m delighted to be in another film [Episode VIII].
Will we get to see Christie’s face inEpisode 8? Or will Phasma continue to do the Boba Fett thing and keep her face hidden until the very end? My personal fan fiction sees her on the run and disgraced after being forced to turn the shields down inThe Force Awakens, a role that would require Christie to take her helmet off every now and again. We’ll just have to wait and see.
The Hollywood Reportersat down with this year’s Oscar-nominated editors to discuss how they collaborated with their directors. Naturally, this meant a few quotes fromThe Force AwakenseditorsMaryann BrandonandMary Jo Markey. Markey says:
And here’s Brandon:
I think that the secret of [Star Wars] is that you relate to these characters. It’s a story that you are engaged in and emotions that you are familiar with.
If you want some additional reading on the film’s post-production process,Varietyhas an article about how visual effects were utilized during the final duel between Kylo Ren and Rey.
LEGO unveiled a slew of new Star Wars-themed sets at the New York Toy Fair, which you can check out in the video above. But more importantly, their boothalso showed offlife-size LEGO recreations of Finn, Poe Dameron, and Captain Phasma, which is the exact kind of ambitious insanity that I appreciate.
Game Informerhas continued to release snippets from their cover story onLEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In addition to revealing some new concept art and early renderings (see above), they spoke to Lead DesignerJosh Pickering Pickon what it was like to build the game’s Jakku level:
If you’ve been to an up-to-date video game arcade recently chances are strong that you’ve seenStar Wars: Battle Pod, a state-of-the-art combination of arcade shooter and simulator that places you directly into several conflicts from the original Star Wars trilogy. Now,the game is getting an update. The Battle of Takodana is coming toBattle Podin May, allowing players to recreate the dogfight between the Resistance and the First Order in the sky over Maz Kanata’s castle.
One of the biggest unanswered questions inThe Force Awakensrevolves around Poe Dameron survived that TIE Fighter crash and got off Jakku, especially since he managed to get back to the Resistance before the other heroes could get to Maz Kanata. Thankfully, Star Wars Minute has the answer to this question for those of us who haven’t had the chance to dive into every piece of supplementary material out there.
