In the lead up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we desperately wanted to know what the film was about, but Disney and J.J. Abrams wouldn't budge.  I can't recall another blockbuster that kept such a tight lid on the plot, and kudos for them seeing it through.  I doubt Rian Johnson will put that much emphasis on secrecy, and while the box office numbers might reinforce the importance of mystique, the studio, which loves to oversell its movies, will likely chalk up the success to this singular event and resort to their old playbook.

Left in the dark on Episode VII, there were plenty of rumors, some wilder than others, and I've collected some of them below.  All of these rumors pertain to story rather than who the studio would hire to direct or how they would cast the film.  These early reports may have been working off bad info or an earlier version of the script.  I can't wait for the day when the veil is lifted on this movie and we get a warts-and-all retelling, especially when it comes to learning how much of screenwriter Michael Arndt's work remains (if any) and how the Lucasfilm story handled the film.  Finally, all of these stories were taken from our own archives.  We didn't touch the huge spoilers that were leaked because those were probably true, and we didn't want to contribute to ruining the film for anyone.

Also, as you read this article over, I hope it hammers home the importance of why rumors for blockbuster movies should be taken lightly.

MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FORCE AWAKENS.

Luke Skywalker Returns to Yavin 4 to Build Jedi Academy

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Almost exactly three years ago, The Guardian reported that the plot would involve Luke Skywalker going back to the Rebel base on Yavin IV to build a Jedi Academy, a plotline that was similar to Kevin J. Anderson’s Jedi Academy novels.

Here’s the Truth: Luke did start up a Jedi Academy (we don’t know if it was on Yavin), but as we learn in exposition from Han, it fell apart when one of the pupils, Ben Solo, who became Kylo Ren, went over to the Dark Side and destroyed everything.

The Story Revolves around Luke, Leia, and Han’s Children

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Back when Michael Arndt was still working on the screenplay, word leaked in February 2013 that the plot involved the offspring of the original protagonists Luke, Leia, and Han.

Several months later, Schmoes Know reported that they had picked up a casting notice for the film (a casting notice that strongly resembled the plot of the expanded universe novel Legacy of the Force):

Storyline: Two 17 year old twins, a girl and a boy, are trained by their uncle Luke to be the greatest Jedi’s in the galaxy. Problems arise when the male twin turns to the dark side.

 

Jaina Solo – Female, 17 years old, lead. – Jacen’s twin sister, one of the greatest Jedi’s in the galaxy, trained by her uncle Luke Skywalker.

 

Jacen Solo – Male, 17 years old, lead – Jaina’s twin brother, one of the greatest Jedi’s in the world. A loner who is constantly struggling with the idea of what’s right and what’s wrong. Starts to turn to the dark side. Full of conviction that what he is doing is the “right thing”. Will eventually become Darth Caedus.

Here’s the Truth: Kylo Ren is the son of Leia and Han, and he absolutely had a major role in The Force Awakens. We’re still not sure about the parentage of the other new characters (Rey seems a likely candidate to be Kylo’s sister, but we’ll see if the sequel trilogy wants to keep hammering away at similarities to the original trilogy). It’s also possible that Rey could be Luke’s daughter, but again, that’s not set in Episode VII.

Casting Breakdown

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Bleeding Cool scooped up this casting breakdown, but in retrospect, it’s so broad that it’s hard to match up everything up one-to-one:

  • Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.
  • Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.
  • A late twentysomething male, fit, handsome and confident.
  • Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’t need to be particularly fit.
  • A second young female, also late teens, tough, smart and fit.
  • Forty something male, fit, military type.
  • Thirtysomething male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit.

Here’s the Truth: Rey absolutely fits the description for the late-teen female, and Poe is the late twenty-something confident male, but from there, it’s all over the place. The Seventy-something male could easily be Han, but they would never recast Harrison Ford. The young twenty-something male could apply to Finn and Kylo Ren; they’re both goodlooking, but neither is the chiseled-jaw type. And then there are characters who don’t show up. Who’s the other young female? Was the fortysomething military male supposed to be General Hux and then they aged it down? Keep in mind that some of these roles were fungible; Captain Phasma was going to be a man until the Internet pointed out that the original cast was a bit of a sausage fest and they might want to add more women to a film being released in 2015.

Obi-Wan Kenobi Will Be in Episode VII

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Latino-Review reported that Kenobi would show up as a “Force Ghost” and that Ewan McGregor would reprise the role.

Here’s the Truth: Obi-Wan Kenobi was not in the movie. Not even close. [Update: Some people have pointed out that McGregor's voice is in Rey's vision.  But clearly that's not what Latino-Review was reporting, and it's a fleeting moment that's easily missed.]

The Movie Is Looking for Another Wookie

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Here’s the Intel: In September 2013, Den of Geek scooped up a casting call looking for: “Male, 7 ft to 7.3 ft tall with a slim/thin build and upright posture. Not too worked out or too ‘thick set’ especially in the shoulders. Broad facial features would be a bonus”.

Here’s the Truth: This could have just as easily been for Peter Mayhew’s stunt double or another practical alien creature, but there’s only one wookie in The Force Awakens, and his name is Chewbacca.

Han Solo Has Gigantic Role in Episode VII

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Deadline reports in April 2014 that Han Solo will have a “gigantic” role in Episode VII.

Here’s the Truth: Absolutely. While rumors tried to put Luke, Leia, and Han on equal footing, Luke is a MacGuffin, Leia is a nice addition, and Han is the real link between the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy. He’s the most beloved character and he ultimately goes full Obi-Wan when the new chief villain strikes him down. Han is pivotal in more ways than one in The Force Awakens.

The Mystery of Max Von Sydow’s Character

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Along with claiming that the working title was The Ancient Fear (sure, why not), the AICN also said that Max Von Sydow’s character was a villain “who makes Pazuzu [the demon from The Exorcist] look like a pussy!”

Here’s the Truth: Von Sydow is barely in the film, and I’m left to wonder if his character was largely left on the cutting room floor. What we do see is far from villainous; he aids Poe Dameron before being killed by Kylo Ren.

Female Villains, Boyega’s Character, and Boba Fett Armor

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Latino-Review had a host of rumors in June 2014. They thought that there would be a female villain, and there was 50/50 shot of her being a Sith. They reported there was no Republic. They reported that John Boyega’s character didn’t start out as a Jedi or a Padawan, but his storyline had echoes of Luke’s in A New Hope. Finally, they said we might see armor similar to Boba Fett’s lurking around the film.

Here’s the Truth: It looked like Latino-Review was working from a bad or outdated source on this one. Yes, Phasma is a female villain, but she’s not a Sith, and there are no Sith in the movie. John Boyega’s character doesn’t start out as a Jedi or Padawan, but it’s Rey’s story that closely resembles Luke’s in a New Hope, not Finn. As the opening crawl of The Force Awakens tells us, the Republic does exist, although I can understand why its existence might be confusing since the exact same battle lines seem to be in place as the ones in the original trilogy. Finally, unless you count Stormtrooper armor as bearing a resemblance to Boba Fett, no dice on that front.

Mercenaries and Sith Witches

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Speaking of Boba Fett, Latino-Review reported in June 2014 that the bounty hunter’s Mandalorian buddies would be a major antagonist for the Jedi. They speculated that the black-and-chrome armor would belong to these new warriors. Additionally, fans should be on the look out for “Sith Witches”, who were loosely tied to the Nightsisters relating to Darth Maul.

Here’s the Truth: Nope and nope. The black-and-chrome armor only belongs to Captain Phasma, and there are no Sith witches or Sith of any kind in the movie.

The Story Is an Echo of ‘A New Hope’

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Image via LucasFilm

Here’s the Intel: In July 2014, Badass Digest (now Birth.Movies.Death.) had the following story synopsis for the film:

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.

 

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. Meanwhile, on an ice planet, nefarious forces are building a super weapon, one capable of destroying not planets but entire solar systems…

 

In many ways this plot of Episode VII is an echo of A New Hope. Instead of R2 coming to Tatooine it’s a hand falling from the sky, but the basic sweep of the story is similar, and intentionally so. But things that seem familiar may not be as familiar as you think – don’t assume that every ice or desert planet in the galaxy has already been visited, if you know what I’m saying.

Here’s the Truth: While it doesn’t line up 100% (there’s no falling lightsaber, and it’s not a quest to return that particular item), this story synopsis pretty much gets the gist of the story—the search for Luke Skywalker and the replacement of the Empire building a new superweapon. It’s definitely closer than Sith witches.

The New Stormtrooper Helmets Revealed

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Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

Here’s the Intel: Someone was able to sneak photos of the new stormtrooper helmets out online.

Here’s the Truth: Yep. Those were the helmets exactly. I’m a little relieved that no one went to the trouble of creating stormtrooper helmet forgeries.

Inquisitors, Young Leia, and Droid Hands

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Image via JJ Abrams

Here’s the Intel: Latino Review reported in August 2014 that Inquisitors (as seen in Star Wars Rebels) were the main antagonists, and that their involvement with the Sith will be revealed in flashback when the characters meet up with Luke. Additionally, this flashback would feature Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd as a young Leia as opposed to young Leia. Finally, the “droid” hand J.J. Abrams showed fans in an image released a week prior collider.com/star-wars-episode-7-droid-hand/ belongs to the main Inquisitor according to Badass Digest. ““He wears a black robe. His eyes are deep red. And half of his face is metal,” reported BD. “He’s a cyborg. That was his hand in the picture JJ Abrams shared with the note about A Force For Change.”

Here’s the Truth: Inquisitors can get behind Mandalorians and Sith Witches when it comes to not being in The Force Awakens at all. As for Lourd, she’s in the movie, but it’s in the background at the Resistance base. Finally, Abrams was a sly son of a bitch by showing a hand that didn’t belong to a droid at all. It belonged to Luke Skywalker and we only learn that at the very end of the movie.

Daisy Ridley’s Costume Revealed

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: In September 2014, someone said they got a glimpse of Daisy Ridley’s costume, and they tried to recreate it along with sharing the following thoughts to Making Star Wars:

“She has a ton of detail and gadgets on the costume, so please forgive me for any ambiguities.  The pants reminded me of Boba Fett’s pants (they’re not).  The knee pads, chest and scarf are a dark blue.  The pants are grey.  Her arms are a white “bone” looking padding, tied off with brown straps.  My sketch looks like she has a hat brim but that is supposed to be a transparent visor.  It’s like a solid piece of glass or plastic and you can see her eyes through it.  The stances below are nearly identical to the art I was shown.”

Here’s the Truth: This may have been an idea that was batted around the costume department, but it’s a far cry from Rey’s final costume, which is mostly long, flowing muslin-like fabric along with some goggles for when she does some scavenging and her grey outfit at the end of the movie.

Missing Luke, Line of Dooku, Moraband, and Kira

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: Making Star Wars believed they had a collection of info about Episode VII in September 2015. First, they said that Luke had been missing for ten years, Adam Driver’s character might be related to Count Dooku via an aristocratic line of villains, we would be making a trip to the Sith world of “Moraband”, and that Daisy Ridley’s character name was being called “Kira, Kera, Sera, and Fawn.”

Here’s the Truth: The movie doesn’t specify exactly how long Luke has been gone, but ten years sounds about right. What’s not right: everything else. There’s no relation to Dooku (outside a brief mention of a clone army, the prequels may as well not even exist for The Force Awakens), there are no Sith, there’s definitely no Sith planet, and I guess those names for Rey were placeholders at best.

Max Von Sydow’s Character, Rey’s Home, Yavin, and Cyborg Chewie

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Image via Disney

Here’s the Intel: Max Von Sydow’s character remained a mystery from start to finish, but in October 2014, Badass Digest thought it had him figured:

Remember that I told you the movie begins with the discovery of the lightsaber? Well, it isn’t Daisy Ridley who discovers it but rather a blue alien guy. He brings it to a salvage yard where Kira – that seems to be what Ridley’s character’s name is, or at least what they’re calling her on set – sees it. She’s hanging out there with von Sydow, who is an old cyborg dude, a guy who maybe has dementia. He talks a lot of nonsense. But as soon as that lightsbaber shows up, he gets lucid. He recognizes it. He begins to talk about the old days, name drops a couple of Prequel Trilogy characters, even. And then, after Kira and the alien leave he makes a call to a mysterious figure. “It’s here,” he says. But who is he calling?

Additionally, BD claimed that she lived in an old AT-AT and that previous set photos of the Millennium Falcon and X-Wings were on the planet Yavin. Finally, there were rumors that Chewie might have a cybernetic hand in the movie.

Here’s the Truth: Von Sydow’s character is still kind of mysterious (He’s referred to as an old ally in the opening crawl), but he’s definitely not an “old cyborg dude” who makes a call.

However, Rey does indeed live in an abandoned AT-AT, and I can understand the confusion over Yavin since the Resistance planet does resemble the Rebel outpost from A New Hope. However, Chewie does have all of his limbs in the new movie, although the same cannot be said for C-3P0, who now has a red arm.

“Kira”, a New Droid, and Chrome Trooper

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: I don’t know where Making Star Wars was getting their info about Rey (then called “Kira”) in October 2014, but it was awfully detailed:

Kira has a junker ship which has tow cables that detach from it to pull junk across the sandy planet on which she lives. The cockpit is in the center of the ship and is not unlike a B-29 Bomber. Stylistically it reminds me of the ships from Terminator that attack John Conor’s [sic] rebels. The cockpit holds two pilots in the front and there is probably room for more in the short fuselage. The back of the ship fans out. There are no weapons as it is not an attack ship.

 

The ship has four engines, large engines. The large engines on the bottom are on the sides while two smaller engines sit above it, but close together. Imagine an X-wing fighter from Episode IV if the engines on the bottom where bigger. In some depictions the top of the ship has two X-wing engines for the smaller engines.

They also claimed she was helped by an alien-pig creature who would help her tow an X-Wing fighter.

There was also a new droid in the movie:

The droid is smaller than R2-D2 and Chopper [from Star Wars Rebels]. His head is just above the knee, but not quiet to the hip, he’s tiny. His head is silver like Artoo-Detoo but his markings are orange (Note: I originally reported the droid’s markings as being red, but I should have said orange). He has a single eye and two antennas on the top of his head. His neck has a black covering that kind of accordions when he looks around and connects to his body. He is similar to something you might see in Wall-E mixed with one of the senate cams in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace.  He has a holographic projector in the same place as Artoo-Detoo as well. His head looks up.

Making Star Wars also had a description of the Chrome Trooper armor:

The eyes are more like a classic Stormtrooper’s eyes as opposed to the Star Wars: Episode VII Stormtrooper’s visor look. There’s a chance this changed but with what I looked at, it was like the classic Stormtrooper. The left side of the helmet has a communication type device that moves down and isn’t on the ride side of the helmet. The part underneath the head helmet, the face area, reminds me of a folded napkin  (with a Stormtrooper face printed on it) if that makes sense. It doesn’t have the rounded trim at the bottom like the classic Storntrooper, it’s almost like Darth Vader’s mask in a way.

 

The center of the helmet is black, where the commander’s forehead would be and its kind of like a really tamed centurion (like the AT-AT driver). The armor is very much like the new Stormtrooper chest piece. The character wears a black cape with red lining on the inside.

Here’s the Truth: Artists on blockbuster productions are tasked with coming up with hundreds if not thousands of drawings and renderings. Throw in a game of telephone, and you can see the glimpses of what was and wasn’t true for this.

Perhaps at some point in development, Rey had a junker, but that’s nowhere to be found in the finished film. With the droid described above, you can see hints of BB-8, but it’s odd they would miss the distinct “soccer ball” like design, so they probably saw an early rendering. But they were definitely in the ballpark when it came to the description of the “Chrome Trooper”, although it’s still not 100% correct with the final design for Captain Phasma.

Andy Serkis Playing More Than One Character

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Image via Lucasfilm

Here’s the Intel: In December 2014, Jedi News reported that Andy Serkis was playing two roles. The first was motion capture based and puts him in a “group of unbelievably athletic and acrobatic motion capture characters.”  The second character was a “pivotal role in the first act story arc that entwines with Daisy Ridley’s backstory.”

Here’s the Truth: Serkis plays Supreme Leader Snoke, and all we see of him is sitting on a gigantic, holographically projected throne. He basically fills in the role of the Emperor for this movie to the point where I wonder why they had to get someone of Serkis’ versatility. And Snoke definitely doesn’t move around a lot. As for a character with a relationship to Rey, that remains to be seen, but nothing in The Force Awakens tells us that he knows her.

Rumored Character List

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Image via Disney

Here’s the Intel: In April 2015, Making Star Wars claimed they had a full list of character names, which ranged from confirmed newcomers like Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron to ones like “Uber” for Andy Serkis’ character and “The General” for Domhnall Gleeson.

Here’s the Truth: This list was working from some outdated and lax info. For example, there’s no flashback for a young Luke Skywalker and Serkis plays Snoke, not “Uber”, although I suppose that could have been a working name for the character like Kira was for Rey. They did come a bit closer with “The General” but The Force Awakens gives the character a last name, Hux.