8 Takeaways From The New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer

After much hype and anticipation, the second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens has finally arrived in all of its glory, bringing an exciting and enticing new look at the next chapter in the beloved saga. Packed to the gills with new footage, the trailer contains plenty of mouth-watering hints at what's to come when the film hits theaters on December 18th, 2015. Not only does it provide a better look at new stars Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, but it also brings back a few familiar faces while showing us a glimpse at what's happened to the galaxy far, far away in the thirty years since the destruction of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. After dissecting the new footage, we've come away with 8 key takeaways and things to look out for as the journey to Episode VII continues. Check them out on the following pages. 8) Artifacts Of The Star Wars The trailer opens with what may end up being one of the most iconic images in the entire Star Wars saga: a downed X-Wing fighter and Star Destroyer on the desert of Jakku, a new planet that Daisy Ridley's character, Rey, calls home. The image is both beautiful and haunting, and a sign that The Force Awakens - and presumably the Star Wars films that proceed it - will deal heavily with the aftermath of what happened in Return of the Jedi. We've seen what the saga's various space battles look like, but have yet to see what happens once they've been completed. When Star Destroyers and rebel ships are defeated in the air, gravity of course takes control and decides their fate, falling to the planets below. The shot is both a reminder of what's come before and proof that we're now heading into new territory within the Star Wars universe. And, the fact that several of our characters meet here shows that this is an appropriate way to open the new trailer. This also appears to be the site where the Millennium Falcon enters the bowels of a downed ship while under pursuit from a TIE Fighter (piloted, it looks like, by the Chrometrooper that we'll talk about in a bit). 7) The Force Is Strong In The Skywalker Family Much of the trailer contains a voice-over from Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker and is an echo of a speech that the young Jedi gave to his sister Leia in Return of the Jedi about how strong the Force is in his family. It was in that speech that he reveals to her that they're twins, and here, he seems to be repeating it (with a few little tweaks) to another Skywalker. Whether it's his own child or that of Leia and Han remains to be seen. The voice-over serves as a way to show new, brief glimpses of Luke and Leia, as well as the haunting shot of the deformed mask of Darth Vader. It seems that someone has pulled it out of the fiery grave that Luke made for his late father on Endor. Why they've done so is unclear, but it definitely can't be good. Judging by the stark grey surroundings, it's either in the hands of the Imperials or Kylo Ren, the new Sith Lord who wields the now-iconic red tri-saber. Luke himself appears in a shroud and is seen placing his robotic right hand on R2-D2. Leia, on the other hand (or, who we're meant to think is Leia) is being handed a lightsaber. Has she become a Jedi Knight (or at least honed her Force powers) in the years since ROTJ? 6) X-Wings In Flight The second glimpse of the famous X-Wing fighter in the trailer comes in the form of a beautiful and exciting shot of a squadron of them, flying above the waters of an unrevealed planet, punctuated by an exciting "Wooo!" from Oscar Isaac, who plays new character Poe Dameron. Isaac described Poe as "the best fricking pilot in the galaxy" during Star Wars Celebration, and noted that "he's been sent on a mission by a certain princess and ends up coming across Finn and their fates are forever intertwined." Considering Finn (Boyega's character) is a Stormtrooper and Poe is a Rogue pilot, I wonder if the two will first meet as enemies on opposing sides, or if Finn has already met up with Rey at that point. Regardless, it's great to see the X-Wing in action once more and Isaac's yell of excitement perfectly mimics that which likely came from the mouths of Star Wars fans across the globe when they saw this footage. 5) Rey And Finn: Unlikely Allies? Rey appears to come across Finn on Jakku and the two are then hunted down by TIE fighters. Either they don't know who Finn is, or they do and are trying to kill him for either abandoning his post as a Trooper or teaming up with the Rebel Alliance. Daisy Ridley mentioned at Star Wars Celebration that her character was a self-sufficient and solitary scavenger, until she met "another character and the adventure begins." Judging by this footage, Finn is that character and for some reason, the two begin an intergalactic adventure together. As far as Finn goes, we have yet to spend any amount of time inside the helmet of a Stormtrooper, the famous "Red Shirts" of the Star Wars franchise. His character should give us a new perspective on the saga as a whole thouh and act as our entry point to the state of the Empire now. 4) A New Empire In one of the trailer's most striking images, we see an army of Stormtroopers assembled on an ice planet (which itself brings back some Empire Strikes Back memories), standing before a gigantic red flag. The flag's logo is reminiscent of the Imperial logo from the original trilogy, but isn't the same one, which suggests that a new regime has risen since the days of ROTJ and is using the Stormtroopers and vehicles of the old Empire for itself. Someone is obviously in charge here, standing tall in the background underneath the new flag. Is that new villain Kylo Ren, or a new Palpatine-esque figure? 3) Two New Villains Based on the trailer, there are two new baddies to contend with: Kylo Ren and a caped Chrometrooper. When last we saw Kylo Ren, he (or she?) simply walked away from the camera and ignited a new, deadly lightsaber. This time, we see Ren in action, commanding a bunch of Stormtroopers in a big battle. What we see of Ren's fighting style makes it look very deadly, and the fact that we only see small glimpses makes the character even scarier. Good luck trying to guess who's under the hood, too. Abrams was smart to keep the mystery box closed and kept Ren's face covered by a new mask. The identity of the Chrometrooper is equally as mysterious, though rumors have pegged Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline Christie as the one behind the shiny helmet. Stormtroopers have long been the butt of running jokes, thanks to their universal uselessness in the original trilogy, but this new Trooper looks intense, intimidating, and deadly, especially when you consider that she's going after the Falcon. 2) Goodbye CGI, Hello Practical Effects The prequel trilogy was derided for its reliance on CGI. George Lucas got so carried away with green screens that he eventually did away with flesh-and-blood Clone Troopers altogether in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, opting instead on creating them all in a computer. Abrams has seemingly abandoned that technique (for the most part, anyway), and has promised to bring Star Wars back to its practical roots. That's clear in one shot in particular, which shows a TIE Fighter hangar under attack: Abrams has applied the natural approach to the film's new droids, as well. Fan-favorite new addition, ball-droid BB8, was brought on stage at Star Wars Celebration to show off how lifelike he is. He even gets a moment to shine in the new trailer, seen cowering behind a wall. BB8 appears to be inside the Millennium Falcon. Perhaps he's scared of the Wookie that pilots it... 1) Welcome Home, Han And Chewie Speaking of Wookies, everyone's favorite fuzzball makes his triumphant return to the big screen, along with his scruffy-looking co-pilot, in the trailer's final moments. This is the first time we've seen Han Solo on film in thirty years, which is exciting in and of itself. Add the fact that he's once again next to his pal Chewie (who doesn't appear to have aged a day), and back on the Falcon, and you can immediately count this as one of the most exciting and important moments in the Star Wars saga. The shot itself comes with a mystery, though. Han seems nostalgic about being on the Falcon. Has he not seen the inside of the ship in some time? If so, where has it been? Daisy Ridley said that her character is a scavenger in a "spaceship graveyard," so is it possible that the Falcon's been left on Jakku for some reason, and is Rey and Finn's ticket off the planet when all hell breaks loose? Here's my theory: Ridley's character either finds or is in possession of the Falcon at the beginning of the film (maybe because she's Han's daughter?). She comes across Finn, who has either defected or become stranded on Jakku. When the two are hunted down by TIE Fighters, they make their escape in the Falcon and go on an adventure to meet up with Han, Chewie and the rest of the gang. Tell us, are you excited about Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Did you notice anything in the trailer that we didn't? Let us know in the comments section below.