‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ — ‘Princess’ Leia is no more

Han Solo holding a blaster!

Speaking with EW, Abrams compared Luke Skywalker to a mythical fairy tale figure that a generation of people may or may not have believed existed in the upcoming Star Wars sequel. If you haven’t, then the triumphant sight of the Millennium Falcon scudding over sand dunes and exploding TIE Fighters might be enough to pursuade you. “I know your eyes.” – is actually Maz.

“Her history is that she was a pirate for a long time”, Abrams said about Maz.

Time for a comic book called Journey To Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Maz Kanata, Space Pirate, anyone? For Fisher, it’s a return to acting after years spent mostly writing, so the stakes are high for her as well. We see TIE fighters, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) handing Rey his gun while telling her “You might need this”, Solo himself blasting a few unknown assailants alongside Chewbacca, and Finn (John Boyega) battling against a Stormtrooper.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the director not only confirmed that it was Nyong’o speaking, but also went as far as to reveal that fans have already seen what her motion-capture character will look like when the film hits theaters on December 18. However when it comes to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Princess Leia is no longer a Princess. “As an actor for films, your eyes are a lot of the way you communicate anyway”, Nyong’o also told the same outlet. “I had this pitch about the goggles that she wore”, says Abrams.

Originally, Abrams meant to use a puppet to play Maz, but he realized that performance capture would work better given what her character is required to do. Apparently, Finn is indeed a former stormtrooper who abandons his job in a TIE fighter, likely the same one seen on Jakku.