No sooner had I finished off the post below than this bomb shell dropped:
BOOM! Mutha’trucking Star Wars y’all.
I’ve been feeling the Force all this week; and it's been a while. As a kid
I was a gigantic Star Wars fan, all the way up until Episode III. I dug the
hype of the prequel trilogy, even if with hindsight they’re mostly Ewok piss.
But sadly my Star Wars geek status took a knock after the movies stopped. I
tried the books, with there New Jedi Orders and Wookies being crushed by moons;
they just didn’t have the fun of the movies. The video games trickled out but
were mostly bull; and while I loved the Clone Wars cartoon (and even went to
that crappy movie which started it off) I never really bothered to keep up.
Cut to 2012 and, when feeling sophisticated, adult and drunk
at a most happening Halloween party, I suddenly checked my phone to see that
Disney had bought out Lucas Film, and all hell was breaking loose. I awoke in a
sobered daze with my fellow party goers eying me with disgust; and since I’ve
tried not to get to excited.
But THIS changes everything! The spinoff reboot got me
considering to check out the new books (and the awesome looking REBELS cartoon),
and with May 4th coming up I may spend the bank holiday watching the Holy Trilogy again: BUT THIS CAST!
THIS IS IT PEOPLE! WE CAN LEGITIMATLY GET OUR JIMMIES RUSTLED!
So, lets take a look at this fine assortment of unknown,
slightly less unknown, and very British talent that will be taking us back to a
Galaxy Far Far away.
First off, of course, the original trio. Mark Hamill, Harrison
Ford and Carrie Fisher are all back, along with there lifelong companions Peter
Mayhew, Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker. No sign of Billie Dee Williams or the
dude who played Admiral Ackbar, but hey; there’s still two movies to go. An
absolute treat for Star Wars fans to have the whole team back; let’s just hope
they won’t force the new guys out the picture too much.
But let’s be honest here, the biggest disturbance in the
Force comes from our awesome new additions. Leading the cast is John Boyega,
aka THE LAD WITH A BASEBALL BAT FROM ATTACK
THE BLOCK. Need I say more? An absolute cracking cult movie, Boyega is just
going to rule; plus he already has a ton of experience fighting alien nasties.
Next we have Daisy Ridley, pretty much a unknown, although
she has cropped up in a few recent British hits like Mr Selfridge and The Toast of
London. Already there’s plenty of people moaning she’s the only girl cast,
but its early days yet, and I’m certainly not going to get bogged down in all
that. At the very least, she has the premier surname associated with alien
asskickery, so I’m sure she’s gonna rock.
Next we have Adam Driver, of Girls fame. That show has absolutely no appeal to me, but I’ve
heard lots of good things about him. Apparently he’s up for the villain role;
which will be the first time a Star Wars baddy has been the same age as its protagonists
(disregarding Hamil and co of course!).
And then someone completely different; Oscar Issacs, fresh
from recently chasing cats around the Village in the
fantastic-but-everyone-else-hated-it-and-now-hate-me-for-making-them-see-it Inside Llewellyn Davis. As trippy yet darkly
entertaining as that movie was, he had a pleasingly natural like slightly dickish
persona that makes his role hard to place. But I can’t wait to see what they do
with him.
Squeezing into a mo-cap suit will be the legend that is Andy
Serkis; you all know how awesome he is, and I hope he gets some sort of
anti-Jar Jar to play. Nothing but goodness can come from this decision.
My personal favourite next; Domhnall Gleeson. Known to millions
as ‘Ron Weasley’s disturbingly attractive eldest brother’, Gleeson has been
quietly waiting in the wings for a big role after plenty of minor hits like About Time, Dredd and an appearance in Black Mirror (as well as a starring role
in the upcoming Frank; you just keep
your eyes peeled for Frank... trust
me). He was one of the major names being battered around for Doctor Who last year, but it looks like
his waiting has finally paid off.
And last, but by no means least; Ming the Merciless himself;
Max von Sydow. We all know he’s gonna be a Sith Lord, and we all know there’s
no one better.
So there we have it; a whole new generation of Rebel Scum,
along with all the old favourites. There's still a long way to go before we'll even see a glimpse of the film; and I expect at least another 200 io9 posts before the day is
out moaning about J.J. Abrams and his lack of females. But for now, lets feel
free to get our hopes up. The Galaxies Greatest Saga is about to continue...
Joseph Smith is sitting in a Jedi dressing gown. He's very pleased about it.
