We’re just under four months out from our long awaited return to a galaxy far, far away, and JJ Abrams has been talking with Empire (never stops being funny) about the new villains of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The First Order, dropping some details on their creation, revealing that they are not actually remnants of The Empire but instead a fanaticial group looking to continue on their work. A sort of Empire fan club if you will. Actually, Abrams puts it better himself, saying, “That all came out of conversations about what would have if the Nazis all went to Argentina but the started working together again? What could be born of that? Could The First Order exist as a group that actually admired The Empire? Could the work of The Empire be seen as unfulfilled? And could Vader be a martyr? Could there be a need to see through what didn’t get done?”. Thats a really interesting approach to the villains this time round, and ties into the fact that The Force Awakens feels like its all about passing the Star Wars legacy to a new generation.
Abrams also shed some light on Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, a member of the mysterious Knights of Ren, pointing out that even though he’s dressed in black and wields a gnarly red lightsaber, there’s a very good reason he isn’t going by Darth Ren. “Kylo Ren is not a Sith. He works under Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a powerful leader figure on the Dark side of the Force”. Snoke is the motion capture character being brought to life by Andy Serkis, and by what Abrams is saying, he could actually be a Sith lord, but that remains to be seen.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set for release December 18th.
