7 Takeaways From The Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer

After what felt like an insurmountable amount of waiting, the first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens landed online in all of its geeky and spectacular glory. Reactions to it so far seem to be incredibly strong, and one thing is abundantly clear: Star Wars is back! With the beloved saga's return comes a handful of questions, and if you thought we had inquiries before the trailer arrived, you have no idea what kind of theories, speculation, and excited daydreams we're cooking up now that we've had an 88 second glimpse at what J.J. Abrams has in store for the Star Wars universe. Up until now, we've had absolutely no official information to go on, but with this first, tantalizing preview, we at least have some idea of what's in store for us. So, on that note, here are the 7 biggest things that we took away from the trailer. 7) No Familiar Faces, Focus On New Cast Right off the bat, the first thing of note in the trailer is that it consists entirely of new faces. It would have been easy for J.J. Abrams to simply give us a few shots of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher, or devote a few seconds of screentime to iconic characters like C-3P0, R2-D2 or Chewbacca. Instead, they're nowhere to be found, and the spotlight is turned toward franchise newcomers. John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac take center stage, giving us our first glimpse at who they're all playing in this new Star Wars chapter. We heard rumors that Boyega would be playing a Stormtrooper, and that seems to be confirmed by the opening shot of the trailer, which shows the Attack the Block star "awakening" on what looks like Tatooine. Ridley, meanwhile, appears to be some kind of scavenger or Tatooine native, as she's shown hopping onto the back of a new landspeeder and racing toward the Dubai set that we saw in previous videos released by Abrams himself. Then, of course, there's Inside Llewyn Davis star Oscar Isaac, shown piloting an X-Wing. How the new cast are connected both to one another and to the old cast remains to be seen, but it's refreshing to see that Abrams is not using the old cast as a crutch. This is, first and foremost, a new chapter in the Star Wars saga, and an exciting one at that. 6) A New John Williams Score Luke, Han, and Leia may be absent from the new trailer, but one important player in the old Star Wars films is front and center: John Williams. Not only that, but the Academy Award-winning composer has given us some new music for the trailer, which was confirmed by the official Star Wars twitter page: https://twitter.com/starwars/status/538374915338940416 The goosebump-inducing triumphant and iconic Star Wars fanfare that blares at the end of the trailer is immediately familiar, but the music that comes before it is entirely new. Say what you want about how bad the prequels were, but you can't argue that Williams didn't compose the hell out of those movies. He delivered some truly incredible pieces of music and I can't wait to see what he's got in store for us with The Force Awakens. 5) More Practical Effects, Less CGI When Abrams first landed the directing gig for The Force Awakens, he promised to return to the roots of the franchise. That didn't only mean bringing back Stormtroopers, X-Wings, and the heroes of the original trilogy, but it also meant stepping away from the bland CGI backgrounds and green-screen trappings that George Lucas injected into the prequel trilogy. And, judging by this new trailer, Abrams is a man of his word. Gone are the stale CGI environments, replaced by tangible, real-life locations. Also, you'll notice a severe lack of people sitting around in circles talking, or slow, boring camera movements. Abrams is a kinetic filmmaker, and the energy in this trailer is palpable and incredibly exciting. We see a droid with the body of a soccer ball, rolling across the Tatooine desert surrounded by old junk and broken down podracer parts that Abrams' set designers actually built. Sure, there will still be CGI in the film, and there's plenty of it in the trailer, but in just 88 seconds, Abrams showed us that he won't solely be resorting to green screens for The Force Awakens and will indeed be making Star Wars feel real again. 4) The Stormtroopers Are Back (And Have New Helmets!) A few months ago, some concept art from the film found its way online, showing off what looked like a new helmet design for the Stormtroopers. Now, that new design - based on early concept art drawn by Christopher McQuarrie - has been confirmed, and while it's a minor detail, it's an important one. First of all, the expanded visors on the helmets show that maybe the Imperial helmet designers realized that if the Stormtroopers were actually able to see out of the thing, they'd have better aim. That has yet to be confirmed, and I'm sure that some blaster fire will, inevitably, miss its target (this is a Star Wars movie, after all!), but it's a logistical design change. Secondly, the inclusion of Stormtroopers is incredibly important because it shows that the Empire is still at large, even after the events of Return of the Jedi. Add in the fact that Abrams not only puts Boyega, who is reportedly the star of the film, in a Stormtrooper outfit but also shows us a glimpse of the Troopers ready to exit a dropship, and it's clear that we'll get to see a bit more of the iconic soldiers this time around. They were nothing more than cannon fodder in the original trilogy, and became generic, CGI cannon fodder in the prequels, so they deserve a bit of the spotlight now that we're seven films in. Also, Boyega being a Stormtrooper shows, definitively, that the Empire no longer resorts to cloning for their soldiers. There are real people under those helmets. 3) The Fight With The Empire Rages On As I mentioned before, it's clear from this trailer that the Empire is still at large, and that they're still waging war with the Rebel Alliance. Blowing up the second Death Star and killing the Emperor in Return of the Jedi ultimately didn't end the galactic conflict at the center of the original trilogy. We don't know which side has the upper hand this time around, however. After all, it has been thirty years since the events of Jedi, so anything is possible. In any case, my geek heart is happy to see TIE Fighters engaged in a dogfight with the Millenium Falcon (over the sands of Tatooine, no less), and to see X-Wings in formation, ready to engage with what is likely a dangerous Imperial threat. Speaking of X-Wings, I must also note that this is the first time we've seen them flying around on an actual planet, instead of zooming around outer space. It reminds me a bit of the Rebel Alliance video games, which were chock-full of exciting planet-bound missions. Let's hope Abrams played those games, too. 2) Whose Voice Is That? Fans have already begun debating and speculating about the identity of the voice delivering the trailer's voiceover; some claim it's Benedict Cumberbatch (who has not, officially, been cast in the film), while others lean closer to someone like Max von Sydow, Andy Serkis, or even Adam Driver. Whoever it is seems to be tapped into the Force, though we're not quite sure whether he is more interested in the Dark or Light side. The gravely voice may suggest that he's some kind of Sith Lord, but there's no rule that says a Jedi can't sound super creepy. “There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The Dark side…and the light.” Whoever it is, this voiceover is one of the few things that give us any sort of idea of what to expect from the film's plot. Could it be that, in the last thirty years, no Jedi or Sith have operated, effectively making the Force "sleep?" Or is the Force "awakening" on one side of the Light/Dark spectrum? If so, what does that say about Luke's activities since Return of the Jedi? Has he not been building a new Jedi order, or shying away from his Force abilities, as previous rumors have indicated? 1) A New Sith Warrior And A Cool Lightsaber We may not know the status of the Jedi based on this trailer, but we do know that, despite the fact that both the Emperor and Darth Vader are dead, the Sith live on. One of the biggest and most exciting surprises from the trailer is the chilling shot of the film's villain, who's seen stumbling into a snowy forest and igniting one nasty-looking red lightsaber. Speaking of that lightsaber, one big point of contention with fans thus far has been the inclusion of the two smaller blades jutting out from both sides of the hilt. While they may not seem immediately practical, I'm sure they'd come in handy in some close lightsaber combat. Also, the lightsaber looks more rough than any we've seen in the previous films. The blade is usually smooth and bright, while this one looks more organic and far more deadly. It even sounds different than what we're used to. Will this be what all lightsabers look and sound like? Or does this new Sith Lord have something special? The biggest question of all, of course, is who it us under that hood. Some have suggested it's Lupita Nyong'o, but since we don't see the figure's face, it could be just about anyone. We know that it's not Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher, and it's definitely not Oscar Isaac, John Boyega or Daisy Ridley, so maybe that narrows it down somewhat. Tell us, what are your big takeaways from the new trailer? Did we miss any big topics on our list? Enter the discussion in the comments section below! Star Wars: The Force Awakens will blast into a galaxy near you on December 18th, 2015.