J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII will likely continue to dominate the news cycle all the way up to its December release next year – so get comfortable, everyone. Today’s scoop on the sci-fi franchise update should be preceded with the disclaimer that lots of wild rumors have been flying around the web for months, and there’s no way to confirm the validity of any of this. However, what’s been circulating online lately is pretty meaty stuff, so if it is accurate, fans will definitely be intrigued by it.
According to Latino Review, which has been reporting the majority of the Star Wars rumors, the villains in Episode VII are called The Inquisitors. If you’re interested in all the details on those baddies, surf on over to Wookiepedia (yes, it’s an actual thing), but suffice to say, the Inquisitors are quite nasty customers. Defenders of the Sith Order, they’re determined to hunt down the Jedis and serve the dark side of the Force. The upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels, set five years before the original trilogy, will also feature them as villains, which definitely increases the probability that there’s some truth to this rumor.
If you’ll remember, it was previously reported that Jedi Hunters would menace the new protagonists of Star Wars: Episode VII, so the Inquisitors are likely those same characters. According to recent rumors, Luke Skywalker is a captive at the beginning of this film, and when he’s rescued by Han Solo and Chewie, he launches into a flashback explaining the origins of the Inquistors – a sequence which reportedly features a young Princess Leia (played by Carrie Fisher’s real-life daughter) and Darth Vader. So, yeah, the Inquisitors have been around for a while.
In other Star Wars news, Devin Faraci of Badass Digest reports that Han and Chewie pilot a Super Star Destroyer in this film after losing the Millenium Falcon to Oscar Isaac’s character, “who is very much the Lando Calrissian of this movie – all the way down to wearing a cape.” In addition to teasing that Solo uses a lightsaber in this film, Faraci writes:
There are other familiar spaceships in this movie, incuding three variations on TIE Fighters. There’s the classic design, the TIE Interceptor and a new generation TIE Bomber – the pods on these are stacked, not side-by-side.
What else is new in the Star Wars movieverse? Some alleged concept art of Han Solo’s new look, along with new Stormtrooper helmets, has leaked online courtesy of IndieRevolver, and you can check that out below. They don’t look very official and could easily be fan art, but the images are at least still worth a look if you’re interested in Star Wars.
Star Wars: Episode VII opens December 18th, 2015.
