What Fans Can Definitely Not Expect From ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ And Which Character Had A Sex Change
Most of the details about the highly-anticipated new Star Wars film have been a closely guarded secret. While some details about the plot have emerged via the backstory of X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron, as recently reported by the Inquisitr, most everything else about Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been left to speculation. However, the film’s producers have confirmed a few things about the film that moviegoers will definitely not be seeing, much to the relief of many die-hard Star Wars fans.
According to People magazine, the most widely-disliked character from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar Binks, will not be returning to the big screen. Despite a prevalent fan theory that Jar Jar Binks is actually a Sith lord who intentionally brought the Emperor into power and duped the Jedi, the baby-talking Gungan is nowhere to be found in the new story line.
“Jar Jar is definitely not in the movie,” said producer Kathleen Kennedy at a Star Wars press conference in Los Angeles.
“No, there are no Ewoks in this film,” he insisted.
Returning Star Wars cast member Carrie Fisher then joked that Ewoks may have slipped into the film without Abrams realizing it, to which he responded, “That’s right. There are rumors that some snuck onto set.”
J.J. Abrams also had more news about what fans shouldn’t hope for when seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens this holiday season. He said that nobody should bother waiting around till the end of the credits for Easter eggs or surprise scenes that tease the next installment of the franchise. While this is a popular trend among superhero movies, J.J. Abrams confirmed, “All the scenes are actually in the movie.”
Even though the general plot of the sequel is still a complete mystery, there have been several villains announced, including Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) and Captain Phasma (played by Game of Thrones star Gwendoline Christie). While little is known about the character of Phasma herself, Star Wars co-writer Lawrence Kasdan recently admitted that she was originally conceived to be a man.
“Really? No. No!” Christie said, laughing once she was told. “It’s so interesting, because I’m really uncovering more about this film from people like you than I knew before! Please just tell me everything he said!”
The interviewer who broke the news revealed everything Kasdan said about the creation of the villain. Basically, the Star Wars writers created a villain named Captain Phasma and made him male by default; but then Kasdan proposed that the character be changed to female.
“Everything was happening simultaneously. When the idea came up to make Phasma female, it was instantaneous: Everyone just said, ‘Yes. That’s great.'”
This decision may have been part of a larger effort by Abrams and Kasdan to make the newest Star Wars installment more appealing to women and girls. After recently saying that Star Wars had been a boys club in the past, Abrams claimed that he hopes women will be able to better relate to the female characters in the cast. But, he specifically said that they should identify with one of the protagonists, Rey, and not a villain like Captain Phasma.
(2/2) Never has been — and I hope girls and women see themselves in Rey (and not Phasma)!
— Star Wars (@starwars) December 5, 2015
Expect Star Wars: The Force Awakens to hit theaters on December 18, but don’t look for Jar Jar, Ewoks or Easter eggs!
[Photos by Walt Disney Studios and Jason Kempin/Getty Images]
