Disney and Lucasfilm may be done with full-length trailers in the marketing campaign for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens but they sure aren’t holding back in airing little snippets of new footage in each new TV spot. There have been five official Star Wars 7 TV commercials thus far, each one coming just days after the previous, the last of which showcased more footage from inside the Millennium Falcon.
Where Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi, R2-D2, and C3PO joined the ragtag crew of the Falcon throughout the adventures of the original trilogy, this time around its new characters BB-8, Finn, and Rey who must team with Han Solo and Chewbacca to save the day aboard the “fastest ship in the galaxy.”
We’ve seen that Rey is able to fly the Millennium Falcon while Finn uses one of the Corellian transport’s laser turrets. This new TV spot focuses more on the latter, putting Finn (John Boyega) in the spotlight. We see him acting tough, perhaps introducing himself to Solo, hints of why he’s leaving the Empire where he served as a Stormtrooper, and of course, him rocking Luke Skywalker’s blue lightsaber which was lost in The Empire Strikes Back – previously used by Anakin Skywalker.
In addition to seeing more hints of the journey of a First Order soldier defecting and joining the Resistance, we’re also loving the imagery of new Stormtrooper types. The last few spots highlighted the Flametrooper (“We’re all about the flametroopers,” reads the official Star Wars Facebook page) and this new melee-focused unit who Finn duels against with his Jedi weapon. This explains a certain Hasbro toy we saw at New York Comic-Con six weeks ago and harkens back to rumors that Jedi-style sword training my be standard for Stormtroopers and why Finn is so capable:
Melee Stormtrooper confirmed? A photo posted by Rob Keyes (@failcube) on Oct 7, 2015 at 6:51pm PDT
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The film is directed by J.J. Abrams and stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan & J.J. Abrams and Michael Arndt.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th, 2015, followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars: Episode VIII on May 26th, 2017, and the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25th, 2018. Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to reach theaters in 2019, followed by the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
