Followers of the Force erupted with the release of a 30-second teaser for the eagerly awaited “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
While much of the footage in the clip has already been seen in other glimpses at the seventh installment of the science fiction saga, there are several brand-new details that fans are poring over.
Here are three things we spotted:
1. The opening shot of the new teaser reveals a large gathering of stormtroopers and Imperial officers listening raptly to an address by a figure clad all in black. With the camera behind and far away, it’s difficult to discern who it might be, but only two serious possibilities come to mind: Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), a user of the Dark Side of the Force, or General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), a leader in the defeated Empire’s new First Order.
Hux is the more likely with his stronger connection to the military, possibly confirming this wintry locale as Starkiller Base, the primary base for the First Order.
2. In addition to the troops and vertical-winged TIE fighters, we see a new heavy war machine in the distance by the mountains that is probably designed for a future attack. The image immediately brings to mind the classic walking tanks called AT-ATs, but look closer.
The Empire seems to have learned from its mistakes in the Battle of Hoth from “The Empire Strikes Back,” in which a piece of rope could bring down a multi-ton war machine. The new machines have shortened legs and the mobile tanks are lower to the ground, making them less vulnerable to being felled by ropes.
3. There’s a familiar figure behind General Lux/Kylo Ren on the podium. The shiny chrome helmet strongly hints that this is Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), a chrome trooper and officer in the First Order that we glimpsed in the first trailer (and again later in this teaser).
We don’t know yet if Phasma is the only one to earn this new chrome armor or if the First Order is experimenting with new trooper classes (like snowtroopers and scout troopers), but it seems like one would have to be a pretty unique and special warrior to earn unique and special hardware. There was a reason, after all, why Mace Windu got the purple lightsaber.
For final answers, we will have to wait until the film hits theaters on Dec. 18. Director and co-writer J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars” sequel is set 30 years after the “Return of the Jedi,” when the rebels crushed the Galactic Empire.
The film stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie and Pip Anderson.