Star Wars: The Force Awakens almost had an even more banal name

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a very well-executed film that has reinvigorated the franchise, but boy, wasn’t that a lazy title.

Unlike the trailers, it didn’t do much to stir excitement when it was revealed last year, much like Batman v Superman’s perfunctory Dawn of Justice.

The rejected titles were not more interesting, if confusing, ones like Bond’s Quantum of Solace however, but even more obvious phrases.

Pablo Hidalgo, a creative executive at Lucasfilm's Story Group, revealed on Twitter on Christmas Day: “[The title] was Shadow (singular) of the Empire for a while.”

Shadow of the Empire isn’t exactly the most inspiring name, basically just another way of saying The Empire Strikes Back.

If it’s familiar however, that’s because it’s the title of a novel in Star Wars’ Expanded Universe (now called Legends).

The Force Awakens sequel, Star Wars 8, doesn’t have a tagline yet. It is being written and directed by Rian Johnson (Looper), and will be preceded in cinemas by a spin-off movie about a Death Star run called Rogue One.