Today in The Force Awakens: Oscar Isaac doesn’t think ‘leaks’ have ruined much

tfa-ss-isaac327→ In an interview with Yahoo, Oscar Isaac talks about the security surrounding the production, and says that the fan theories “couldn’t be more far off-base.” Given that most of what we have is concept art and not necessarily indicative of the finished product? Yeah, probably.

→ Speaking of… Today Making Star Wars has TIE fighters and how the pilots board them.

→ The Telegraph looks into ILM in London.

→ Yesterday’s hot topic was that Warwick Davis saying he’s “excited by” the “chance to see members of the old cast in the poster,” which was (naturally) taken as a hint that we would see the alumni on the poster. Seeing as Davis himself clearly hasn’t seen it yet, that assumption seems a bit jumpy, but that’s the internet for you.

Rumor: Han Solo standalone rumors ride again?

rumors-swirl-sw-ootOne of the earliest standalone rumors we heard was that a young Han Solo would be the focus of one. In the spirit of everything old being new again, Making Star Wars says that may indeed be the case – well, the Han part at least – and that filming may “eventually overlap” with Episode VIII. Also looking to be attached to the spin-off in some fashion, though not necessarily as Han Solo? Aaron Paul.

The previous Solo rumor fell out of favor after we heard Kathleen Kennedy say that spin-off characters wouldn’t be “in and out of the saga episodes.” That doesn’t necessarily preclude the films dealing with Saga characters before or between their Saga appearances, but in any case – plans can change.

Today in The Force Awakens: You’ll shoot your eye out, kid

wicked-broadsaber→ Of course there’s a 3-way ‘crossguard’ from the real-life Wicked Lasers. (Who we first heard from way back in the day.) Of course. (via)

→ J.C. Chandor, who directed A Most Violent Year, talks about keeping Oscar Isaac’s X-wing secret with Screencrush.

→ At the Huffington Post, Domhnall Gleeson talks about losing weight for Unbroken – and seeing The Force Awakens trailer.

Market Saw has what they claim to be the ‘final iterations’ of concept art for Han Solo and Chewbacca. Funny how with the rushing river of concept art leaks the only stuff we ever see regarding original trilogy alumni is the terribly predictable Han and Chewie stuff.

Something Awful has ‘discovered’ more trading cards for The Force Awakens. It’s all very nonsensical, but hey: It’s Something Awful.

Rumors: Helmets, Darths and other The Force Awakens theories

spoilers-swirl-bespin2Making Star Wars isn’t done yet, and in response to yesterday’s apparent reveal of Kylo Ren’s helmet, Jason takes a look at various peices of concept art and speculates as to what they may mean for the character – or some character, anyway – and how they may or may not connect to our previous villains. This draws on a few things we’ve seen and heard before, so experienced spoiler hounds only.

Leaked photo of The Force Awakens action figures?

spoilers-swirl-broadsaberTheForce.net brings us a leaked photo of action figures for The Force Awakens. The picture originates in a Chinese forum and features four trailer characters (Rey and Finn are in different costumes, Kylo Ren head-on, BB-8 looking pretty much the same) and an old pal from the original trilogy. These could be fakes, I suppose, but who knows? (Picture, more thoughts in the comments.)

Spoilerphobes beware: Indie Revolver has taken this opportunity to show us concept art of Ren’s helmet.

Today in The Force Awakens: EW gives us… A nice picture?

tfa-ew-illo→ The meat of the Entertainment Weekly preview piece seems to be this analysis that showed up today, plus sidebar on John Boyega that showed up on Tumblr. Neither really tells us anything we don’t already know, but the illustration by Martin Ansin is nice.

Matt Martin accidentally started a meme. I’m just glad that I’m not the one gathering the tweets, but here’s mine. I Sharpied!

Oscar Isaac got his uncle in Star Wars, and he jokes about wearing a Gonk costume to Comic-Con next year.

→ Now Wired is looking at how fast the TIEs in the trailer are. Math geeks, it’s okay. We don’t need to know.

→ Rumor corner: Making Star Wars on concept art of a new alien sidekick.

→ What did I forget yesterday? The Disney XD trailer featurette is now online. It’s… Not for us.

The Force Awakens true and false with Andy Serkis

EW122614→ Andy Serkis dispels a couple of The Force Awakens rumors in a chat with Entertainment Weekly: He’s not playing more than one character, and he’s “not leading a band of gymnasts or acrobats.”

Episode VII is (naturally) featured in the next issue of the magazine, which looks ahead to 2015 and is teasing some additional stuff in addition to Serkis. EW stuff we’ve seen online but not in print includes Mark Hamill and the cards. Or maybe we’ll see some other stuff in the next few days. (Cross your fingers.)

→ If you’re still stuck on the broadsaber, Popular Science got some real swordsman to weigh in.

→ Rumor corner: Making Star Wars describes a new kind of fighter.

Rumor: Another character name for The Force Awakens?

rumors-swirl-ladytroopersWe have a new character name for The Force Awakens this morning – one Captain Phasma. Stitch Kingdom dug the name out of some trademark registrations.

But whose role does the name belong to? Speculation quickly pinpointed Gwendoline Christie, no doubt due to the name’s feminine sound and previous rumors, but it’s probably a last name, which means it could be anyone. Remember how there were also rumors that Christie’s character was originally male?