They are characters that could yet become as famous as Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia - or suffer the ignominy of comparisons to Jar Jar Binks and Nute Gunray. The names of some of the key new personnel in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, as seen in last month’s mega-hyped teaser trailer, have been revealed by Entertainment Weekly.
John Boyega’s Stormtrooper is known as Finn, Daisy Ridley’s desert planet speeder-rider is Rey, and the unknown actor wielding that sword-like lightsaber is villain Kylo Ren. It looks like the ball-droid shown rifling across the sand in the trailer may get some decent screen time: it’s been given the R2-D2-like alphanumeric moniker BB-8. Meanwhile, Oscar Isaac’s determined X-wing pilot is called Poe Dameron.
The names were revealed when studio Disney outlined a series of collectible playing cards to Entertainment Weekly, resembling similar colour-coded cards that publicised the original trilogy of Star Wars films between 1977 and 1983. A large number of characters from Abrams’s film nevertheless remain veiled in secrecy, including those due to be played by actors Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow and (likely via mo-cap) Andy Serkis.
The teaser for The Force Awakens is on course to be the most-viewed trailer of all time. It got an estimated 52m views in its first four days online after debuting on 28 November. The new Star Wars film is due for release in December 2015.
-
This article was amended on 12 December 2014, as the film’s full title was incorrect.
