Every year San Diego
Comic-Con houses some of the biggest and most anticipated films and franchises
that make us geeks shiver in anticipation, and for many including me no other
property makes us shake more than Star Wars.
On today's Comic-Con
panel for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mr. Comic-Con Chris Hardwick was the moderator,
and he introduced onto the stage Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence
Kasdan, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson,
Gwendoline Christie, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and Harrison Ford in that
order and throughout the panel.
- Hardwick
started the procedures by asking Kennedy about the Star Wars fandom and
presence throughout the years. "Obviously I think a lot of people out
there know that Star Wars is 100% dependent on the fans in this room and all
over the world since 1976. In fact, when the movie was ready to come out, it
was really the fans that built the momentum around the release of A New Hope. So we are
right back in full circle, and we wanna say thank you to all of you."
- Abrams
revealed that they already have a cut of the film, which they are currently
editing in "an extraordinary moment where we’re fine-tuning." The director also pointed out that
he's happy that Disney gave them time to do it right instead of rushing it.
- Kasdan, who
made his Comic-Con debut said that "the guy that brought me here is the
genius that brought us all here: George Lucas," and then proceeded to
reflect on working with Lucas on Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
- Kasdan
also spoke of working with Abrams. "I thought he was the funniest, most
talented, most perfect choice for this movie. And then he and I spent an entire
year walking around, figuring it out, [writing the script]."
- Abrams then
spoke of the experience of making The Force Awakens. "There is nothing
normal about getting to write a movie with Lawrence Kasdan… I’ve sat down with
John Williams to show him scenes from a Star Wars movie that he hadn’t seen yet.
There’s nothing normal [about this]."
- Hardwick
then asked Abrams about the practical effects, and the director started talking
about the video he made for Unicef, which was our first sneak peek of the film
and included a little alien called Baba Joe, which Abrams than brought onto the
stage to prove that he was practical.
-
The character was built by Neal Scanlan and his creature shop, and is one of
"hundreds" that will for the most part populate the background,
however Abrams points out that they offer the actors something tangible to
respond and interact during the scene.
- Still
on the visual effects, Abrams said, "of course it’s Star Wars there’s gonna
be a ton of visual effects… But the important thing for us was we made this
authentic."
-
Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Oscar Isaac came out.
- Ridley was the first one
quizzed about her role, and was asked about the physical demands of the film,
and her training routine. "As you’ve seen in the teaser, we were running
through 110 degree heat, and those explosions were real."
-
Isaac was then asked if he had received any advice about piloting, to which he responded,
"As
an excited eager actor I wanted to talk to Harrison Ford about
piloting, and he said, "Um, it’s fake. And also it’s in space so the same
stuff doesn’t apply."
- Isaac
also added that his character "Poe was watching on Yarvin when the medal ceremony was
happening and saying, ‘I wanna be that.’"
-
Hardwick then proceeded to introduce the dark side of the force in The Force
Awakens, and brought in Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Gwendoline Christie (Captain
Phasma), and Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux).
- Christie
was the first to talk and she said "This is so out of control," to which
Hardwick replied, "You know you’re on Game of Thrones right?"
-
Though he didn't reveal much about his character, Driver did say "We didn’t really have
a lot of conversations about bad or evil, actually, when we were shooting it.
It was more what do you think the difference between being bad and being
right?… Thinking their right is almost more evil. A group of people who have
decided that they’re morally justified in behaving a certain way."
- Gleeson was even
more tight lipped than Driver about his character but jokingly said that since "he's
British, so yeah" when asked if General Hux was pure evil.
- Christie was more opened about her character
and revealed that, "I found it not only exciting that there was a female
Stormtrooper, but it was the opportunity to explore a female character that is
totally not about the way she looks in flesh. That armor is the exterior, and
it’s more about the outside feeding in."
- Carrie Fisher was
introduced onto the stage.
- Carrie Fisher being
Carrie Fisher had a unique response to what it was like returning to the
franchise. "It was like a flashback. I thought, ‘They were right about the
acid flashbacks," to plenty of laughter. "I always said it was a
little like before, but we looked more melted."
- Mark Hamill also
came out onto the stage and spoke about the "out of body experience"
Star Wars means to so many people, adding, "I’m moved by the connection to
the world. Suddenly you’re a friend to everyone."
- The panel seemed
like it was about to end and then suddenly Harrison Ford appears and spoke
about returning. "Well it should’ve felt ridiculous. It was
30 freaking years ago and I sort of grew up. It was something I did so long
ago, and I will tell you that it felt great. I wasn’t so sure it would, but the
company was the right company, the director was the right director, Larry wrote
us a wonderful story, and I was proud and grateful to once again be involved.
The original Star Wars that I was part of really was the beginning of
my working life, and I was very, very grateful for the opportunity that I had
in that film, and the success I had in that film, so it was great to be back."
The panel truly ended,
and before the Q&A started, a behind-the-scenes reel was shown (here).
- Abrams was asked about the responsibility
of making a new Star Wars film. "The only answer I can say is because we love it and we
care about it so much, our job is to not be blinded by that. You can just be a
fan and say you’re gonna make a movie because you’re a fan… When you’re
directing a scene on the Millennium Falcon, it doesn’t make it good. It’s
bitchin’ because it’s on the Millennium Falcon, but it doesn’t make it good."
- Kennedy then
revealed that Gareth Edwards starts shooting Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One in
three weeks.
- Someone then asked if there were any Asian
characters in the film, to which Abrams replied "First of all I wanna say, ‘Go Asians!’" before adding that there
are Asians in the film and that they "didn’t write the character of Finn
to be any color. We didn’t write the character of Rey any color… We wanted the
movie to look the way the world looks, and I think it’s important for people to
recognize themselves in film." Kennedy also added, "there is every
intention” to carry on what Abrams was talking about, “in all the Star Wars movies we’re going to make."
- Gleeson then
spoiled things when he was asked about his reaction upon being offered a role
in Star Wars. "They told me the story and who the guy was, that he was
like in charge of people on a Starkiller Base." Abrams quickly stepped in
and confirmed the base's name, adding that it is an homage to the original last
name of Luke Skywalker.
- On the differences
in theme between the original trilogy and The Force Awakens Ford replied the he
didn't "know that it’s a difference of theme. It’s a development of theme,
and it’s a natural progression that has occurred from the stories that we told
in the first three. Perhaps an emotional rounding of the experience that we all
had in the first three films," to which Hamill joked, "I was just
glad I didn’t have to go to Toshi station and pick up any power converters,"
before talking about the fact that Luke fell in love with his sister: "We
all laugh about it, but when you follow it through it must’ve been quite a
traumatic experience. We were both after her," to which Ford replied, "How
many times can I say I’m sorry?"
- Finally, Ford was
asked on his thoughts about where Han Solo ended up. "I never thought that
we would do another. I was very gratified when I read the script, because I
read something that I thought was really remarkable, really well-written, with
some very intriguing developments. So I was delighted to be involved and I was
very happy to be part of the story and the cast again."
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