Sound Off: Star Wars Episode VII cast announcement stirs excitement for fans

It’s been an exciting week for Star Wars fans with two huge announcements that reveal new information about Star Wars Episode VII and the upcoming trilogy.

Earlier this week, Disney and Lucasfilm signaled a fresh start for the new films by officially ruling out story lines borrowed from the Expanded Universe.

“These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align,” said the statement on StarWars.com. “In order to give maximum creative freedom to the film-makers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi expanded universe.”

Then came the announcement that we’ve all been waiting for, when director JJ Abrams revealed the cast of the next film.

“We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again,” Abrams said.

Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher will be joined by a few of their original co-stars including Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker, as well as a few new additions to the cast including, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow.

“We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Sound Off

We wanted to hear what you think, so we asked our Star Wars Collectibles fans:

“If you were allowed creative freedom, what would you like to see moving forward in the Star Wars Universe?”

Here are a few of the responses we received:

• I’d want to do a series of Boba Fett-centric, action/adventure/scifi/western films. – Johnny B.

• I personally would love to do a Vader series with his conflict and internal struggles as he hunts down the remaining hiding Jedi – Jeffrey G.

• Introduce more female heroines. The Star Wars universe needs a saber-swinging sister. – Craig H.

• I would tell Chewie’s adventure before he met Han Solo. – Werner W.

• Personally, I’d like to see how society has adapted to the end of the Galactic Empire. How the government reformed, and how it affected the civilizations within. – Daniel P.

• The story of R2-D2! He knew everything, right from the start… – Graham F.

•  I would love to see the helm be passed on to the children of Han, Leia and Luke. I want to see an entirely new evil be introduced that stuns the audience. I would LOVE to see some familiar faces too. – Chris M.
  

• I want to see Boba Fett after the death of Jango. Where he went to start his training, how he got the family armor back after Geonosis, and most importantly, what got him started with the Hutts. – Christian S.

• Move focus away from the Jedi. More spaceship battles, and ground battles with huge machines like AT-ATs. Blaster shoot outs! – Christian G.

• A “scum and villainy” series, focusing on the underworld cartels of Nar Shadda and Coruscant, as well as the Bounty Hunters Guild. – Jim M.

• Would like to see the evolution of the Dark Side and a greater explanation of how it all occurred. – Scott P.

• I would write a back story to show how Han and Chewy started their friendship. Also to show what kind of shenanigans they got into during their first adventures. – Carlos V.

• I’m a techie so to be honest I would love to see some delving in to the creation of the tech used in the galaxy. Ships, blasters, communications, lightsabers, lightsabers, oh and did I mention lightsabers? I want rich lore about how this stuff came in to being, how it’s made, and the craftsmen who build it all. – Guy R.

• The adventures of Obi Wan as he keeps watch over Luke growing up. – Bart T.

• I would make a movie about the rise of Yoda through the Jedi ranks. – José L.

• I’d like to see a loyalist Imperial Guard who escaped the destruction of the Death Star find his way in the world, using his martial skills and spy skills etc to eventual seek redemption. – Jarrod P.

• Luke training a new Jedi order, the rise of a new Sith threat, Mandolorianss and bounty hunters settling old scores with Han and Chewie – Allan N.

• I want to see something beyond the Sith, that is just as powerful as the Jedi, but completely different as a new enemy. – Andy R.

• An Ewok in the Galactic council! – Mark A.

• For the love of Yoda, a Boba Fett prequel! – Hunter M.

• Boba Fett, Boba Fett and more Boba Fett! – Ian F.

Join the discussion! Add your thoughts in the comments below, and be sure to ‘like’ us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to see when new ‘Sound Off’ questions are posted.