I'm more than willing to just wait and see what they do. I never really got into post-ROTJ EU so I'm just taking it as a clean slate.

 

It would definitely be cool, but I feel like the principle cast isn't quite big enough to justify the emergence of a ton of force users on both sides.

 

I think it's supposed to just be the same energy that makes the lightsaber, but the less controlled peripheral energy on the surface. Eh, I can go with that. I have more a problem with the crossguard with the physical protrusions. A crossguard is supposed to stop a blade from reaching your hands, and that just looks like the saber you're fighting could cut through it.

From what I've heard, Harrison Ford is definitely out. This is good; none of us really want the original trilogy mucking about the entire new movie. Since Ford not committing didn't make a trail that we heard (and he's the best preserved of the three originial main characters) I think it's safe to say they'll have extended cameos at worst.

Star Wars EU generally is shit, I'd say about 95% of it. But much like HP fanfics, there are diamonds in there if you have thick enough gloves to pull them out. The Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn in particular stands out. It was the first of the EU, and reads basically like a good novelization of a straight up sequel trilogy to the movies with an intelligent enemy on par with Darth Vader. The X-Wing Series by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston were also excellent, and definitely sealed my love for Wedge Antilles, the greatest non-plot-armored character in the Trilogy.*

Zahn's later books were trying to explain away all the shitty plot devices like a revived Emperor and GodTier!Luke that the interveining books created, and thus have to deal with and in-universe decade's worth of shitty books. That alone is what weighs them down, but you shouldn'y discount the early ones.

I'm tenatively optimistic about the movies. JJ Abrams couldn't quite capture the essence of Star Trek. At the same time, he's a self professed Star Wars guy, so I think he probably gets what makes Star Wars Star Wars better than Lucas. I think we won't have to worry about Jar Jars or Ewoks, which makes me sigh with relief. We don't have Lucas mucking about with his wooden dialogue and half thought out plots. We won't know much more until the next trailer comes out, probably in the spring.

Honestly, of the whole trailer the thing that bugged me the most was the astromech with the spherical body. What was wrong with the R2 that we know and loved? Imagine R2 in the Original Trilogy trying to get one of his tools into a socket. How many three point turns would he need to get it at the right height and angle?


*If Wedge had a cameo, I'd be so much more excited than seeing Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher. I know this puts me in the "fanboy" tier but I can deal with that.

EDIT: Upon rewatching, I noticed in particular the dropship full of stormtroopers. I hope they don't fall for the trap of the "Stormtrooper Academt" bad shots. I remember reading a good analysis that said why they were the crack troopers their reputation said them to be; can't find it now, but this short Reddit post basically sums it up. I want the enemy to be scary because they're good, not because they have more people than you.

 

Wait, Ford is out? That's the worse news I've heard so far. FUCK! Han Solo was pretty epic in later EU.

In fact, I'll take this a step further and question how it is possible that the original cast is missing, considering they form most of the upper echelons of the New Rep/New Jedi Order.

 

Looks like I'm wrong. I remember reading it, but google just has a lot of articles about him just being injured during the shooting. Whoops.

 

I don't think they're going to follow the New Republic idea as you assume. The presence of the TIE fighters suggests a significant remaining Imperial presence.

 

Which in no way counters the EU. New Republic is as much a thing as the Imperial Remnant.

Edit: In case I wasn't clear, the Imperial Remnant does have a significant presence.

 

The "crossguard" is 50 shades of useless if that's the intention.
Another problem I had was that the girl looked way too pristine to be someone in the desert. No dirt, grime, or even sweat. I'm probably looking way too far into it, but the first two thoughts that crossed my mind were "I saw this exact thing on the Mary Sue Litmus test" and "The makeup department is really shitty."
Hopefully there's an explanation for it besides these two, because it makes me kind of hesitant to trust the writers/director if one of those is the case.
The dropship scene with all the jumping around was incredibly generic, I see it in basically any action oriented movie trailer these days. Maybe it's rose tinted glasses but my image of Star Wars doesn't really fit the mould for cliche action scenes, and I think there's a bit too much JJ Abrams poking through there.
I'm definitely being too nitpicky, but SW has spurned me before and I can't go through that again.

 

They've said they're throwing out the entire EU, which I don't have a big problem with, other than the notable exceptions I listed above. We could have a New Republic-Empire Civil War, or one much reduced, or even an Imperial (or Republic) remanant fighting from the shadows like the Original Trilogy. We just don't know, which is exciting in and of itself; all we know is that they're still fighting in some capacity.

Yeah they're both there, which is a good thing. Boring galactic government is boring.

 

I agree with Taure about the lightsaber. It seems to be constructed poorly.

It looks like a crossguard, but I think, either the crystal or the emitter lens is not up to normal Jedi/Sith manufacturing standard, which leads me to speculate that it could be some kind of 'exhaust' for the energy because it cannot be focused precisely. If you look at the 'flow' of energy around the blade, you can see it is rougher than a normal lightsaber.

I could also be totally mistaken and they just liked the design of it...

 

They weren't throwing it out. It's just being set aside and future stories/movies might or might not include characters, plots, etc. as the writers see fit and as Lucasfilms/Disney deems worthy or whatever.

"Characters under the Legends banner are still available for use as needed, even if events concerning them are no longer canon."

So you might see some of the more popular ideas make it back into canon in some minor way. I highly doubt you'll see the same characters (Mara Jade, the twins, Ben, et al.). Fan service will only seem like a cop out. I guess it would depend on future reactions.

The crossguard lightsaber was in old canon, but it appeared like a regular one with an small angled crossguard mini-lightsabers , not the blowtorch type. If I remember right it had the ability to short out a regular lightsaber if caught -- like breaking a sword -- shorting it out in this case, I assume. As it's shown in the trailer it seems all but useless in that regard.

 

I will be horribly sad if the Twins, Mara, or Ben don't show up. They were the best characters of the EU. Honestly, Jacen's fall to the dark side was what Anakin's should have been. Not saying I would want to see it on screen; but Jacen's fall was a mix of intellectual/emotional maturity as opposed to temper tantrums. If Lucas had played Anakin's fall the same way, the prequels would be a lot more loved.

 

They were very clear that there will be no EU.

 

I think I'm the only person on the world disappointed by the Force heavy route this movie is supposedly taking.

I wanted them to sit on the Sith for a while, make them and Jedi periphery.

You don't need evil space wizards to have conflict or an amazing story.

The SW universe is huge, with loads of factions and agendas. I was kind of hoping they would explore that.

Maybe the spin-offs will be more to my wishes.

 

Not sure if it's coming at 2015, but just saw the confirmation for the Frozen sequel. Meh.

 

Disney generally announce their movies long beforehand, don't they? I heard a theory that it's alternating audiences every year too (boy movie, girl movie, boy movie etc).

I honestly never looked too deep beyond Frozen, Big Hero 6, then that windwaker looking one next year and going 'huh'.

 

Suicide Squad Cast confirmed.

• Jared Leto as The Joker
• Will Smith as Deadshot
• Tom Hardy as Rick Flag
• Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
• Jai Courtney as Boomerang
• Cara Delevingne as Enchantress

 

Isn't Boomerang a Marvel villain? Or am I just missing something?

 

Captain Boomerang is a Flash villain.

 

Read Polarity? XD I think the one from Marvel is Captain Boomerang.