Story details about the newest installment of the Star Wars saga are leaking daily. Director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) is known for his extreme level of secrecy and misdirection during the production of his films. He enjoys playing the magician with the magic box…and a good magician never gives away his secrets…

The latest rumor can again be a trick, however it comes from the reliable Devin Faraci of Badass Digest. He reports what we can expect in the opening of the unofficially titled episode 7 of Star Wars:

Imagine the standard Star Wars crawl, and when it ends the camera pans up to the stars. But instead of a spaceship zooming into frame we see… a hand! A severed hand, tumbling through space. A severed hand gripping a light saber. 

If this is true, it makes an immediate statement about the tone and growth of the series. This isn’t your dad’s Star Wars and this isn’t some kid saying “yippee” either. It’s a post-modern statement saying, “This is Star Wars today.” However, this isn’t just a metaphor, the light saber is the actual macguffin, the object which sets the story in motion.

That hand falls onto a desert planet, where it is discovered by characters who will be our heroes. One is Daisy Ridley. The other is John Boyega, who is playing someone trying to change his path in life (again, I’m keeping it vague here). They recognize the light saber as a Jedi relic and decide to return it to the proper people.

Their quest takes them off world, and they meet up with Han Solo and Chewbacca, who aren’t flying around in the Millenium Falcon anymore but are piloting… well, that could be a spoiler. I’ll leave it. Anyway, Han and Chewie recognize the light saber as Luke’s, and they say they haven’t seen their friend in thirty years, since the events of Return of the Jedi. 

So begins a quest to find the missing Jedi Master. 

It is the classic hero’s journey all over again. The casting of John Boyega was a surprise to all except for those who saw 2011’s, Attack the Block. In that film he played a teenage gang member who goes from a criminal, to the savior of an entire neighborhood from an alien invasion. It seems we should expect a similar transformation from him in this series as well. He is more than capable and well-suited for the job if that is what the role entails.

Crowds are sure to be pleased to see the reintroduction of Han-Solo and Chewie. The Millenium Falcon aside, what should really be noted is that they haven’t seen Luke Skywalker in thirty years. Fans of the Expand Universe wondered why Disney would announce that only the live-action movies would be canon for Star Wars. Leaving that time unaccounted for, gives more flexibility to future filmmakers in both the central story-line and future spinoffs. A thirty year period is a huge sandbox for writers and directors to play in. Potentially this is where the rumored Han-Solo spin-off could take place, as well as a host of other side-stories coming our way. 

If this rumor is true, it is an inspired beginning to a franchise that needs to be hitting on all cylinders. A simple hero’s call, in the form of a severed hand wielding a light saber, could be shocking and iconic. Details will be flooding in soon. Until then it will be fun to speculate which direction that Abrams is taking an eager Star Wars fanbase.

Do you like the opening? Is it “epic” enough for you? And how does Leia figure into all this?

 

Source: Badass Digest