‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ TV Spot Shows New Bad-Guy Footage
Two seconds of new Star Wars: The Force Awakens footage? We’ll take it! A Korean TV spot for Episode VII has been posted on the Star Wars Korea YouTube channel, and it opens with an exciting new shot we’ve never seen before: a giant Stormtrooper rally on a snowy planet.
In the new scene, a mysterious figure addresses a massive army of troops from the First Order (the organization formed from the remains of the Galactic Empire). Each regiment flies a red flag, most likely bearing the insignia that we saw in the second teaser trailer:
In fact, this new footage appears to be a reverse shot of that very scene. However, a few new details are visible. Look off to the distance, and you’ll see a line of TIE fighters. Behind those ships, as Yahoo Movies UK points out, are some larger vehicles that appear to be walker vehicles that resemble the AT-ATs. (See a close-up below.) Both the walkers and the snow-covered mountains suggest that this gathering is taking place on the ice planet Hoth — although it could be a bait and switch, like the desert planet in the trailers that we all initially assumed was Tatooine, but was actually a new location called Jakku. (Hoth was the hidden home of the Rebel base in The Empire Strikes Back, so thematically, it would be interesting if it became a First Order stronghold.)
As for those official-looking folks in front of the Stormtroopers, we can only guess as to their identities. But it seems a safe bet that the one in the shiny helmet is Captain Phasma, played by Gwendoline Christie, who appears in the next shot of the TV spot. Among the other possibilites: Andy Serkis’ character, Supreme Leader Snoke (whose CGI-enhanced face has yet to be unveiled) and General Hux, played by Domhnall Gleeson. (Fans got a fleeting glimpse of him in a Comic-Con presentation.) None of these characters appears to be Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the masked and hooded villain who wields that controversial cross guard lightsaber. In the shot we’ve seen in all the trailers (below), he’s definitely lurking someplace snowy, but with more trees than we’d expect to see on Hoth.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives in theaters on December 18, so we can expect to see more new footage released in the coming months — and possibly even this Saturday, when Lucasfilm makes its big presentation at Disney’s D23 expo.
(h/t Collider)
