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GMA: The Force Awakens teaser voiceover is indeed Andy Serkis, and about that final lightsaber sound…

tfa-promo1-broadsaber800Good Morning America had their segment on The Force Awakens today, and their “exclusives” are fairly underwhelming: The first is one we’ve heard before and have little reason to disbelieve: The voiceover is Andy Serkis.

And tonight, if there was any doubt…

Slightly more intriguing is that they claim the lightsaber heard at the very end of the teaser is the blue one Luke has in A New Hope… Hmm. Disney company or no, not sure I trust GMA has that officially, but I assume we’ll get more as the day goes on. So that’s our new debate for today. Whoo.

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The Force Awakens trailer aftermath: Did Andy Serkis confirm he narrated? Is the new droid a girl?

Another fabulous piece by Phil Noto.
Another fabulous piece by Phil Noto.
→ Did Andy Serkis confirm he is indeed the voice in the trailer? “You might garner something is you listen to the trailer,” he told BBC World Service Radio. (Go to the 2:15 mark. )

→ It’s been noted that the ball droid may draw inspiration from some early Ralph McQuarrie ideas for R2-D2, though the concepts we’ve seen are far more vertical. The droid also might be a girl, which is something we also heard from the early (and still possibly spoilery) Making Star Wars report. Jalopnik has a nice in-depth look at the little gal, noting a possible connection to Eve of WALL-E.

→ In addition to a lot of great fan art (which I’ve mostly been featuring on our Tumblr, with more coming up tomorrow) there are already action figure customs. A.W. Quinn created Daisy Ridley and ball-droid figures, plus her speeder bike.

→ The broadsaber has been a… popular object of discussion, and The Washington Post even talked to a master bladesmith about it, but hey: If there wasn’t something ridiculous, it wouldn’t be Star Wars. (And yes, the Expanded Universe did do it first. I can’t wait for the concept art book to explain why they went the way they did.)

→ Unsurprisingly, the teaser is reinvigorating wary old fans all over the place.

→ But what is it missing?

→ For you military history folks, a comparison of real-life weapon tech and Star Wars in 1977 and 2015.

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Videos: Two different takes on The Force Awakens teaser

I’ve got a ton of stuff to gather up today, but for the moment, please enjoy these two video recreations of The Force Awakens teaser trailer. Above, a crude but sweet LEGO take that came out shockingly fast – less than 24 hours after the actual trailer!

And from today, the laugh-out-loud funny “George Lucas’ Special Edition” version.

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Episode VII’s John Boyega: “Get used to it.”

TFA - John Boyega

The Force Awakens star John Boyega took to Instagram today to thank fans “for all the love and support,” and promising the film “will be worth the wait.” He also indirectly addressed some of the less joyful reactions, telling them to “get used to it.”

boyega-instagram

Also, an important reminder:

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#StarWars Tweets Special Edition: #TheForceAwakens teaser trailer (Part 1)

@starwars: Yes, that’s new John Williams score in #TheForceAwakens teaser.

Well, that was a day, wasn’t it? I love you all, and thus I have tread through all the erection jokes and true fan bullshit and hashtag spammers (we trended!) to give you the best tweets about yesterday’s The Force Awakens teaser trailer. Big congrats also go to @starwars, who made it past the 1 million follower mark today!

UPDATE: Now with Part 2!

Continue reading “#StarWars Tweets Special Edition: #TheForceAwakens teaser trailer (Part 1)”

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The Force Awakens teaser trailer is here!


It’s live! It’s also now up on the official Youtube, as seen above.

Want to dig deeper? I recommend the shot-for-shot posts from io9, Making Star Wars and /Film. They all discuss some of the rumors we’ve heard, and how they apply to what’s been revealed today. And there’s some immediate reaction over at Eleven-ThirtyEight and Tosche Station.

The biggest – or at least most questioned mystery of the the teaser – who’s that in the voiceover? Popular theories thrown out today include Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow, and the rumor that refuses to die: Benedict Cumberbatch. According Drew McWeeney at Hitfix, it is indeed Serkis, who is “playing a pivotal role in the film, although he will not have a lot of screen time.”

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Santa Maul has awoken, but to what?

santa-maul-logoSanta Maul is not pleased. Santa Maul woke up today to the news that Lucasfilm is co-opting HIS day, Black Friday. Black Friday is for BUYING THINGS. Not watching movie trailers. This December release date travesty is getting worse all the time.

Still, at least they provided this list of Star Wars Black Friday deals.

As always, Santa Maul also recommends ThinkGeek. This year he particularly amused with charm beads, as the concept of wearing a shrunken Darth Vader head on one’s wrist pleases him.

Santa Maul will return when this trailer madness dies down. Perhaps he will find a new, less-played out foe for his mighty rage…