Star Wars News Roundup - San Diego Comic Con 2015

Alright, since we've had a few hours to calm down from the excitement from the Star Wars panel from last night, I thought it might be a good idea to really go through everything that we've learned about Star Wars and The Force Awakens the past few days.

Possible Episode IX Director?
We'll start with the rumor that broke earlier yesterday that Colin Trevorrow might be picked to helm Episode IX. Trevorrow is fresh off the record-breaking Jurassic World that was released a few weeks ago. A lot of skepticism went around about how Trevorrow would handle his first big budget film and he emphatically silenced those critics and is now one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood at the moment.
It's been long announced that Episode VIII would be directed by Rian Johnson (of Looper fame) and was speculated to also be directing IX as well but that would clearly not be the case if this Trevorrow rumor turns out to be true (still no statement from Lucasfilm or Disney). And that's fine, George Lucas about killed himself from the stress of making A New Hope and the original trilogy really benefited from having a different director for each film and that strategy probably helps those directors hold on-to their sanity.

Force Awakens Panel Highlights:

• Abrams said that they're in the processes of editing and shaping the movie. Alluded to how he's thankful to be given the time to put the movie together and make it exactly what it's suppose to be.
• There was a major effort to talk about the practical effects used in the movie; real sets, real costumes and puppetry with an addition of a fair amount of CGI. It's like Abrams and Kennedy are putting the fans at ease and telling the fans that it won't be like the prequels without saying as much.
• One of the creatures created (and featured in Abrams' Omaze video from last year) was brought out on the stage.

• Kathleen Kennedy said episodes VII, VIII and IX would all be a connected, linear story like the previous films. She said that Gareth Edwards will start production on Rogue One in three weeks.
• A fan asked a question on ethnic diversity of characters in future movies. Abrams replied that they didn't cast the characters with a certain race in mind for each but rather just cast who was best for that role. Kennedy said that the future Star Wars movies would be ethnically diverse.
• The 3 actors portraying characters from the "Dark Side" were brought out to join the panel. Adam Driver instantly backed away from the idea that his character Kylo Ren was "evil." Said he was never told that his character was bad and said there was a fine line between being "bad" and being right. Domhnall Gleeson just flat out said his character was evil (turns out he's playing a character named General Hux). And yes, that awesome-looking shiny Stormtrooper that resembles the Shocktroopers is, in fact, Gwedoline Christie's character named Captain Phasma. Here's a look at each of their characters:

• It was revealed that General Hux operates at a facility called "Starkiller Base." The name "Starkiller" is relevant to fans for a a couple of reasons, it's the original last name of Luke (matter of fact the first movie was originally titled "Adventures of Starkiller, Episode 1: The Star Wars") and is the sith name of Darth Vader's secret apprentice in The Force Unleashed video game series. Apparently, the name of the base wasn't suppose to to revealed last night (Thanks Domhnall Gleeson!)
• The original big 3 (Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford) was brought out on the stage to a thunderous roar.
• Hamill joked that Luke would've been traumatized to learn that he was once heads over heels for his sister and would end up banishing himself like Ben Kenobi and in therapy.
• Following the end of the panel, everyone in attendance was treated to a Star Wars concert performed by the San Diego Symphony.

Vehicle Reveal

Earlier today at the Hasbro panel, they revealed a large model of the new First Order Tie Fighter replica. 

It shows off that traditional Tie Fighter design that we all know and love with a little bit of new features and color.

But don't take my word for all this, you can watch the full Star Wars panel from last night in the video below!