The Last Jedi: Maz’s role, wipe transitions and what about Phasma?

Making Star Wars’ latest is about Maz Kanata and her role in this film, which we already know will be fairly small. They also have some indications that we haven’t seen the last of Jakku in this trilogy.

→ Rian Johnson has revealed that The Last Jedi will have a record low number of wipe transitions for a Star Wars film: 12. The reigning champion is The Phantom Menace, which had 55. Of course, there was a poll.

→ A new rumor from Reddit and SWNN claims that we won’t actually see Phasma without her helmet. Would Vanity Fair lie to us? (Well, maybe.)

Phasma meets the First Order in first book excerpt

StarWars.com brings us our first excerpt of Delilah Dawson’s novel Phasma, featuring Phasma herself and another figure who will be familiar to Aftermath readers.

Del Rey’s first entry into the Journey to The Last Jedi publishing program is out next Friday, Septe,ber 1, alongside Claudia Gray’s Leia: Princess of Alderaan from Disney-Lucasfilm Press.

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The Last Jedi will “finally resolve” Rey’s parentage – but will it matter?

Today’s first Entertainment Weekly story tweaks Rey’s parentage, which may not be the bombshell some are hoping for. “You can always look for answers and that doesn’t mean that the rest of your life is so easy. It’s not like, oh, I know who my parents are so now everything falls into shape, especially in the Star Wars world,” Daisy Ridley says.

“There’s always room for bad people to make good decisions and vice versa,” she says later.

Finn’s background will also be explored, although more on the recent end of things – his time in the First Order, since we know he’s going undercover there with Rose – than his early life.

The final article is a bit of a grab-bag, covering Kylo Ren, Han Solo’s (figurative!) ghost, Chewbacca, Captain Phasma, and Maz Kanata.

New (but brief) look behind the scenes of The Last Jedi

The British Film Institue has posted a brief video featuring trainees who are working on Star Wars. Most of the trainees are shown working on the Han Solo movie – and we do see cinematographer Bradford Young – but the headline is few brief peeks at the filming of The Last Jedi. The shots, which feature Rey and Captain Phasma, are from scenes that we see briefly in the trailer, but it is our first look at any new Last Jedi footage since then.

Some new information indicates we might see a second trailer this summer. D23 Expo (July 15) is teasing “never-before-seen footage,” but given that they group all their live-action films together, we’re not guaranteed anything Star Wars.

→ Adam Driver, in an interview that’s mostly about him presenting the daughter of a disabled veteran with a scholarship, says The Last Jedi creates “new rules for the Star Wars universe.”

First look at the Captain Phasma comic mini

One of the few plotty Journey to The Last Jedi tie-ins that we know about, Marvel’s Captain Phasma comic, released a few preview pages today. They’re textless, but isn’t that always how it goes? The mini is written by Kelly Thompson and illustrated by Marco Checchetto (Who also did most of Shattered Empire, the mini which had a similar spot during Journey to The Force Awakens.)

The comic will begin in September, which also sees the release of Deliah S. Dawson’s novel Phasma, which will cover (at least) some of the character’s backstory.

In other comic news, IDW Publishing has revealed the creative teams for their all-ages Star Wars Adventures series. Here’s hoping these breed some top-quality humor, because I still miss Dark Horse’s Star Wars Tales.

Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie on Hux and Phasma

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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.

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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.

Today in The Force Awakens: The review embargo is in

tfa-kylo-finn-reyWe’ll be seeing the first The Force Awakens reviews on Wednesday, December 16th at 12:01am PST. Plan accordingly. In Hollywood, things are shaping up for the Monday premiere, which will have “Academy Award levels” of security and crowd control.

The Force Awakens will be featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, and in the preview video we get to hear some of John Williams’ new score.

→ Today’s best bet: Samuel L. Jackson and Gwendoline Christie chat for Interview magazine.

→ J.J. Abrams has more praise for coffee enthusiast Pablo Hidalgo from in the Toronto Sun. Elsewhere, he talks about The Raid stars with /Film.

→ Costume designer Michael Kaplan on Kylo Ren’s helmet for Time.

Vice News did a half-hour piece on Adam Driver’s Arts in the Armed Forces organization. (Guess what made the headlines?)

→ Also: Phasma and Rey action figures flying off the shelves, Lupita Nyong’o was on GMA this morning, and Anthony Breznican on Bobbajo.