The Force Awakens character names revealed!

Lucasfilm and Entertainment Weekly have paired up to give us character names from The Force Awakens – in trading card form. Daisy Ridley is Rey, John Boyega is Finn and Oscar Isaac plays Poe Dameron. The ball droid is BB-8 (which I’m guessing is pronounced/abbreviated as ‘Bebe,’) and our mysterious villain is Kylo Ren. The card numbers have some significance as well – a mystery to chew on… In addition to Finn and Rey’s last names.

This also puts to bed a popular theory that Gwendoline Christie could be playing the character we now know as Kylo Ren, referring to “his lightsaber.”

UPDATE: One fan has already done the matchwork: Rey, Poe and BB line up nicely, Kylo not so much… Unless… Threepio?!?

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:

This weekend in Episode VII: Wrap party!

artoo-boyega-wrapAlthough there are some rumblings that filming isn’t quite done for all, Saturday night was the wrap party for Episode VII. John Boyega posted a photo with Artoo and a video to his Instagram, and later shared another from the party. Naturally, the paparazzi were there. (Yes, Simon Pegg was there, so get ready for another round of ‘does he have a role?!?‘)

And you can get a closer look at the Artoo – presumably the same one used during the filmng – at Indie Revolver.

Roundup: How Abu Dhabi nabbed Episode VII and more

ep7-imax→ Abu Dhabi nabbed Star Wars from Jordan at the very last minute, according to a new article in The Hollywood Reporter.

→ Harrison Ford is flying around England, while John Boyega and Lupita Nyong’o are either hanging out with his likeness or they both have the same one. Mystery!

→ And finally, in the possible spoiler department, Making Star Wars describes a ship that is either very Falcon-like or an alternate Falcon model. Jason has also seen two more alphabet fighters and X-wing concepts. And then he heard from someone who witnessed some filming at Pinewood.

Today in Episode VII: Yet more (spoilery) rumors regarding all sorts of things

spoilers-swirl-bbwarwick→ Making Star Wars is on a real roll today with several rumors that could be extremely spoilery. First, this morning, there was Daisy Ridley’s house. Jason then followed up this afternoon with some details about Max von Sydow’s character, a couple of planets/locations, a beast and lastly, a new droid, alien and discovery.

First of all, I have few doubts that Jason has seen this stuff. And doubling down is Devin at Badass Digest, who talks about much of the same stuff, including further von Sydow details and something about Chewbacca. But as a skeptical skeptic who skeptics, I have to wonder if some of this is a deliberate red herring. Head to the comments for my personal conspiracy theory.

In less spoilery things…

→ Carrie Fisher gets an award. Mark Hamill is there. Their #beardwatch and #blondewatch games are still strong, but they are both in Los Angeles, so perhaps they’ve wrapped up as well? In any case, enjoy the sibling cuteness and hope we’ll get to hear Carrie’s inevitable jokes sooner rather than later.

→ Ben Affleck explains the genesis of the Batman v Superman/Episode VII ‘feud.’ (Warning: Autoplay video.)