**Spoilers ahead** At this point there’s been so much critical ink spilled over what’s in/not in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” that it can be a bit overwhelming trying to process it all. That’s because the “Star Wars” faithful are a devoted bunch: staunchly committed to parsing every frame of J.J. Abrams‘ new film, looking for clues in what, for them, is equivalent to holy scripture.
The first known illustrations of Finn and Rey, the protagonists of ‘Episode VII’ in the billion-dollar grossing franchise, can be traced all the way back to 2012. The source? The recently published book “The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens” that includes rudimentary sketches of many characters that ended up in Abrams’ film (in addition to a ponytail-brandishing Luke Skywalker). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: This new video dives into some of the ideas that were eventually tossed aside, for whatever reason, when making “The Force Awakens” — therefore providing even more ripe mythology for those whose appetites were not sufficiently whetted.
Some of the jettisoned developments in ‘The Force Awakens’ would have been fascinating to witness. There’s a hybridized ghost of Darth Vader fused with Anakin Skywalker that obviously didn’t make it into the final cut, as well as further trivia exploring Rey’s mysterious origins. The filmmakers also considered killing off Oscar Isaac’s dashing X-wing pilot Poe Dameron after his stupendous introductory scene which, bless their hearts, they decided not to do. The most potentially intriguing deleted subplot involved Lupita Nyong’o’s new instant-classic character Maz Kanata and her delivery of a certain special lightsaber to a certain Princess at a resistance base.
Meanwhile, there’s also a neat featurette that explores Skellig Michael island, an iconic Irish locale that serves as a crucial touchstone in the movie’s closing moments (obviously, please don’t watch this last bit if you, for whatever reason, haven’t seen the film yet).
Check out both of the videos below.