Fans of the Star Wars saga don't have much longer to wait before the saga returns in full Force (sorry, had to be done...). Still, even now the plot of director J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens remains just as shrouded in mystery as its masked antagonist, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).
Rumors continue to swirl around the film and how the paths of new characters like Finn (John Boyega) and Rey (Daisy Ridley) will cross with Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and the rest of the original trilogy cast. However, as The Force Awakens' December release date nears, we're slowly starting to get a better idea what to expect from the film.
Thanks to some new footage just released via the official Star Wars Instagram , Drew Struzan poster released at D23) may provide a bit more insight into what could be one of the film's main battles.
The footage only features four shots from the film, along with the Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) voice-over proclaiming "an awakening" (as also heard in the first Force Awakens teaser trailer). While a glimpse at the assembled First Order and a new shot of Rey and BB-8 add to the suspense of the film, the real talking point is the return of that famous cross-guard lightsaber reveal (again from the first trailer), followed promptly by that brand-new shot of Finn - seemingly in the same scene - bracing for battle, likely with Kylo Ren himself.
We already know that Kylo Ren isn't a Sith Lord, and it's still unclear how much, if any, Finn knows of the Force at this point in the story. Even more intriguing is the context in which this confrontation takes place. Rumors have Rey and Finn on a mission to find Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), a quest which presumably leads them to Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). If Kylo Ren is as deadly as he seems, the fact that he has successfully located Finn probably doesn't bode well for our heroes.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th, 2015, followed by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on December 16th, 2016, Star Wars: Episode VIII on May 26th, 2017, and the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25th, 2018. Star Wars: Episode IX is expected to reach theaters in 2019, followed by the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.
Source: Lucasfilm