It was a grand start to the Star Wars celebration at Anaheim on Thursday as J.J. Abrams, the director of the upcoming sci-fi movie "Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens" unveiled details of characters, much to the delight of Star Wars fans.
The panel at the Anaheim Convention Center included Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy; the duo together kick- started the event by unveiling the new trailer of the upcoming movie in front of thousands of fans.
The duo started off by revealing that parts of the film that were shot in Abu Dhabi are not set on Tatooine but a new planet called Jakku.
The three leads, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac, were the first ones to join Abrams and Kennedy on stage and obliged fans by delving into their characters to reveal more than what was shown in the teaser.
Rey (Ridley) is a scavenger on Jakku. She meets Finn (Boyega), who is facing a life-threatening danger and under pressure, makes some decisions that push him into the Star Wars story. Boyega confirmed that Finn is definitely a Storm Trooper.
Po Damerin (Isaac) is "the best freakin' pilot in the galaxy", Isaac told Hollywood Reporter. He meets Finn, and their fate become intertwined.
The leads were later joined by C-3PO actor, Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), plus a slew of Storm Troopers, R2D2 and new droid BB8.
Kennedy also revealed that they are looking forward to including more women not only for this movie but also for the new films that are to follow. "There's great new characters, but really strong women," she told the website.
Harrison Ford was the only cast member missing from the celebrations, as he is still recuperating from an emergency crash that landed his aircraft on a golf course.
The new trailer has Luke Skywalker talking about his family having the Force passed on over generations; the audience also gets a brief look at a destroyed helmet of Darth Vader. A crashed stormtrooper amid the deserts, a group of Storm Troopers and a sneak-peek into the fight between Tie Fighter and the Millennium Falcon are enough to get fans exicted about the sci-fi thriller.
But nothing compares to the final shot of the trailer that confirms the presence of Harrison Ford's character Han Solo in the film, as millions of fans reconnected with him as soon as he said to Chewbacca "Chewie, we're home."
Also appearing in the movie are Adam Driver, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis and Domhnall Gleeson. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be released on 18 December.
Watch the new trailer released at the convention below:
