At the Los Angeles Times, Domhnall Gleeson talks about why the character of General Hux appealed to him:
I liked him because he allowed me to explore the notion of authority — he’s someone who enjoys authority and holds onto it at all costs. The costume was brilliant and added a whole other layer for me. We talked about the idea that he’s an obsessive and probably doesn’t sleep much.
So he was pale with dark eyes. We wanted him to look like somebody who was dead set on one thing.
Meanwhile, Gwendoline Christie discusses Captain Phasma’s lack of face time with Entertainment Weekly:
I thought it was a really interesting opportunity to play a female character where we formed an opinion of her based on her actions rather than the way she has been made flesh. And that concept within a Star Wars movie, a mainstream phenomenon, was very modern and interesting and exciting.
Both characters are confirmed to appear in Episode VIII.
Lucasfilm’s Pablo Hidalgo jokes on Twitter about General Hux having a cat, Millicent. Tumblr runs with it.
Is it actually canon? Well, no. (Not yet.) But it’s pretty funny, and isn’t that what matters in the end? Under the cut, the adventures of Millicent the cat, as told by Tumblr.
What screenwriter Todd Alcott writes on movies and TV is always worth reading, and his pieces on The Force Awakens are no exception. Check out his thoughts on Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, and finally Poe Dameron and General Hux.
Here are a few other nice posts about various aspects of The Force Awakens. I also have a ton of meta queued up over at the Tumblr beginning Friday morning. (Currently binging on fan art.)
→ What to do when you’re not the hero any more, Laurie Penny’s look at how this year’s new movies (including The Force Awakens) and TV reflected a more diverse way of storytelling.
The Disney Channel aired this spot tonight with a handful of new scenes from The Force Awakens, including new footage of General Hux, Poe Dameron and on Jakku.
“It is very much — and it’s acknowledged as such in the movie — apparently another Death Star,” Abrams says. “But what it’s capable of, how it works, and what the threat is, is far greater than what the Death Star could have done. Starkiller Base is another step forward, technologically speaking, in terms of power.”
As for Hux, Gleeson reiterates that the character is ruthless
“You don’t get that high up in your life that quickly unless you’re pretty ruthless,” says Gleeson, who’s 32. “You have to put a few people down on the way to get there.” The actor also says Hux doesn’t carry a signature weapon: he has other people to do such dirty work.
What’s the appeal of the First Order to Hux? “It’s in the title: order,” Gleeson says. “It’s a desire to lump everything in its place and just have power. The desire for power is hugely motivating for a lot of people and normally the people who want all the power are not the ones who should have it.”
On his relationship with Kylo Ren, EW goes for “frenemies:”
“He’s kind of opposite Kylo Ren,” Gleeson says. “They have their own relationship, which is individual and unusual. One of them is strong in different ways than the other. They’re both vying for power.”
The ‘spoilery’ stuff is mainly speculation, but it’s not hard to connect the dots.
In a new interview with Total Film (via gamesradar,) Domhnall Gleeson says that J.J. Abrams described General Hux as “merciless” – or did he?
“Yeah, I mean you look at him and you realise he’s not a good guy! He’s got an English accent so he can’t be good.” He said. Gleeson went on to add that Abrams described Hux as “merciless”, before getting worried he was giving too much away, “Is that what he said?”.
You might think that the chance to be a part of the new Star Wars film would be a dream come true, but although Gleeson is definitely excited, he explained that’s not why he took the part. “Yeah, it’s fun to do different things. I hadn’t played anybody like that before. Star Wars is amazing, J.J. Abrams is amazing, but the thing to do was play something different. That’s what got me really excited.”
The full interview will be in Total Film’s November issue, which is supposedly on sale now.
This morning we learned that not only is Kylo Ren the cover boy for Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Movie Preview, but a couple of things about the character himself. And, amazingly? That’s not all. We’ll get to Kylo in a few, but first, the generalities…
→ How did Kathleen Kennedy get Abrams on the hook to direct Episode VII? She asked him, “Who is Luke Skywalker?’” And for a movie that’s shied away from talking about Luke much at all, his presence is certainly felt in EW’s cover story. How have things changed for the classic trio, and how haven’t they? We don’t get many details, but you can certainly read a lot into Lawrence Kasdan’s comments:
“I thought, ‘Wow, okay, these people have lived — they’re in a different place in their lives, Han and Leia and so on. They’ve lived the same 30 years I have. What would that be like? How would you see things differently?’” Kasdan says. “And I was trying to figure out how I saw things differently, and one of the surprises is that you don’t learn all that much. You haven’t become much wiser than you were, and things are not clearer to you, and the world is just as confusing as it always was — and that’s a kind of lovely thing to get to write about again. Age does not necessarily bring wisdom; it just brings experience.”
→ As widely assumed, the lightsaber we see in the second trailer is indeed the one Luke had and lost at Cloud City.
→ There have been rumors that Abrams might return to close out the trilogy, but he shoots those down pretty conclusively: “No, I’m not going to direct Episode IX, as much as I am deeply envious of anyone who gets to work with this group of people on the future movies.”
→ We get a look at several new pictures – some that we’ve seen fuzzy from the conventions (General Hux!) but a couple that are brand new.
→ There’s also a story on the origins of some of the character names – fitting, since Entertainment Weekly was the first to reveal many of them back in December. We get nothing for Finn and Rey – of course their lack of last names are “completely intentional” – though we do get a name for the new alien (played by Kiran Shah) and his ride: Teedo and his luggabeast. Fear not: Poe Dameron, BB-8, General Hux, and Captain Phasma get more details.
→ Now, finally, let’s unpack a few details about our villain. He may or may not be the Darth Vader fanboy we’ve been speculating about, but he is “well aware of what’s come before, and that’s very much a part of the story of the film,” J.J. Abrams told EW. The helmet’s origins will be explained in the film, but it’s left unclear if the nod to Vader is intentional on the part of the character or just the design team. Abrams also confirmed something that’s been long-suspected: The broadsaber was his own creation. It’s “something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character,” Abrams said.
→ Here’s another key quote from Abrams: “As you see in the best of storytelling, and no doubt the best of Star Wars, these are tales in which an everyperson has to step up. And I think that what makes Ren so unique is that he isn’t as fully formed as when we meet a character such as Darth Vader,” Abrams says. “And I think that there are two sides to the Force. Both sides, arguably, would see themselves as the hero of their story, and I think that applies here.”
→ A few more hints, this time from Lawrence Kasdan: “I’ve written four Star Wars movies now, and there’s never been a character quite like the one that Adam plays. I think you’re going to see something that’s brand new to the saga.” How so?
He’s full of emotion. No matter how we express ourselves in the world, whether we hide it and act very calm or whether we’re very out there and demonstrative, everybody’s roiling with emotion. And you want your characters to be that way, too. Then they have to deal with their emotions as best they can, with what they are.
→ Our biggest tangible clue? We now know a little something about the name… The “Ren” part comes from a group called “the Knights of Ren.” Is Kylo his title? How many more Rens are there? (For our spoiler readers: Seven, perhaps?)
I’m sure almost all you watched the video of the panel this weekend, but for those who didn’t, here are a few highlights. Nothing here about the behind-the-scenes video, though – that’s an entirely different post.
Sure enough, there was no trailer for The Force Awakens at SDCC, but we did get this sweet behind-the-scenes video, which includes our first look at Carrie Fisher as Leia.
The panel consisted of J.J. Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, Lawrence Kasdan, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and even Harrison Ford, who joked about his leg.
We got new pictures of Kylo Ren (Driver) and Captain Phasma (Christie,) but the big reveal was General Hux, Gleeson’s character. “He’s British, so yeah,” Gleeson said when asked how evil his character was. (Driver was far more shady about it.) Gleeson also let slip that the First Order has a ‘Starkiller Base.’ Oh, and the turkey-thing from the first Force for Change video showed up, and his name is Bobbajo. (The spelling is straight from Pablo!)
Ford was the final guest to come out, sounding happy and proud about the film. Harrison Ford! Happy! (Hitfix has the quotes!)
Oh and, hey, let’s see how long this stays up:
All the folks in Hall H were treated to a free concert featuring music from the films and a fireworks finale. I’m not even jealous, because the video is so amazing and the first thing about this movie that has made me cry. I am a Star War, too.
Above that, however, Abrams describes Starkiller:
This morning we learned that not only is Kylo Ren 
