THE FORCE IS BACK WITH US
Trailer for ‘Awakens’ shows the new stars, new villains, new droids
The week started off with a big bang as far as those living in the Star Wars universe are concerned.
Darth Vader and the Empire may appear to be gone, but Kylo Ren and the First Order are now out to rule the galaxy, making their presence felt in the final trailer for Star Wars: The Force
Awakens, which made its debut during halftime of ESPN’s Mon
day Night Football. Director J.J. Abrams’ movie arrives in theaters Dec. 18.
The reveal shows the bad guys arriving in style. But so does a new heroine in Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger from Jakku who’s shown at the opening of the trailer and sees the arrival of Finn (John Boyega), a former First Order Stormtrooper whose TIE Fighter crashes.
Finn is presented as seemingly raised to be in the First Order, but he appears to have escaped: “I’ve got nothing to fight for.”
As for Rey, who’s hanging around with droid pal BB-8 when she meets Finn — and attacking members of the First Order — she tells Han Solo (Harrison Ford) that she has heard all the stories. His response: “The Dark Side, the Jedi, they’re real.” This is set 30 years after the destruction of the Death Star and the apparent takedown of the Empire.
Meanwhile, the masked Kylo, another new character played by Adam Driver, appears to be on a mission for the Dark Side of the Force. “Nothing will stand on our way,” he says, promising to finish what Vader started. He’s shown holding Vader’s burned mask.
While there are new villains — we also get a glimpse of Gwendoline Christie’s chrome Stormtrooper leader known as Captain Phasma — there are new heroes in the Resistance. In addition to Finn, there is X-wing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac).
Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia is back, though she looks emotional in the arms of Han.
The Force is back. POPULAR ‘FORCE’ FIELD Lucky Star Wars fans quickly nabbed seats for the first Force
Awakens shows, which start on the evening of Dec. 17 and went on sale just before 8 p.m. ET Monday. They were originally announced to be available after the trailer launch at halftime of
Monday Night Football.
Interest slowed or stalled sites such as Fandango.com, AMC Theatres.com, MovieTickets.com and others. REY REACTS Ridley set her alarm to watch the
Force Awakens trailer just before it was released Monday, and her friend filmed her reaction. Fans on Instagram got to see the her go from happy squeals to sobs and “Oh my God, it’s amazing.”