Jar Jar Binks won’t be in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

But director JJ Abrams promises it won’t be a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

“I would like them to sit down, relax in their seat and just let the story begin”, said Harrison Ford, who returns as Han Solo. “We went backward to go forwards”.

Can “The Force Awakens“, the seventh episode in the celebrated sci-fi series, meet those expectations when it debuts in theaters on Dec 18? There are talks that “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will use the same strategy to tease fans in its next line of films. It has seen the end of Luke Skywalker. “No”, said director J.J. Abrams.

“It’s gratifying to be part of this”, he added. Also relegated in China are Oscar Isaac’s X-wing pilot Poe Dameron and Peter Mayhew’s Wookiee smuggler Chewbacca, who disappear altogether. “We’ve all seen trailers for films, and they show you the movie in CliffsNotes form, and you go see the movie, and you go, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen this all before.’ So I’m very grateful that Disney took the lead in terms of keeping things quiet”. And just by watching the “Legacy” featurette, I can tell The Force Awakens will be the same.

The 23-year-old Ridley plays the scavenger Rey, one of the main characters. “This is a character who, so far, we have related to due to her choices, due to her character, and not due to the way she has been made in flesh”. As much as I’m excited to see the original cast return, I can’t wait to see how the newcomers will make an impact to the saga’s story.

But it was Game of Thrones’ Gwendoline Christie – who has only appeared in the trailers in a chrome-plated helmet and armor – that provided the clearest reason for why changes like this are so overdue: audiences want them.

Nyong’o, meanwhile, will slip into the skin of pirate Maz Kanata, for which the actress used motion-capture technology.

If your movie fan is in love with a specific cinematic universe, an illustrated movie guide can serve as a fun edition to the boxed set of films they undoubtedly already have at home.

ABRAMS: I was most surprised that the studio never said no. That’s incredible to me.

The Walt Disney Company is also overseeing the production of future “Star Wars” films, including two sequels to “The Force Awakens” as well as a number of spin-offs.