With just over a month until Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens arrives in theaters, Disney and Lucasfilm are revving up the marketing machine for director J.J. Abrams’ much-anticipated sequel to 1983’s Return of the Jedi. The latest teaser takes the form of another television ad for the film, and while it features quite a bit of recycled footage from previous trailers, ads, and previews, it does offer a few fresh scenes from the film — including an intriguing new shot of a character putting a lightsaber to good use and a meeting involving some familiar faces.
Of course, for anyone trying to avoid any and all new footage from the film or descriptions of that footage, you might want to move along now.
The minute-long ad includes much of the same footage that appeared in the recent international trailer for The Force Awakens, and begins in much the same way, with Daisy Ridley’s Rey traversing the desert with the ball-shaped droid BB-8. The sequences that follow are basically an amalgam of shots from the trailers and television ads we’ve seen already, but with a few exceptions.
In one new shot around the :39 mark, Harrison Ford’s iconic smuggler Han Solo is seen handing Rey a blaster and telling her, “You might need this.” That scene is followed by some new footage of Han’s famous spaceship The Millennium Falcon being pursued across the desert landscape by the Empire’s TIE fighters.
After a few more fast-paced shots, there’s a brief scene (near the :48 mark) that features a group of familiar faces meeting around a table in a dark room. Along with Han, Leia can be seen with her back to the camera, as well as C-3PO and what looks to be the Rebel Alliance’s trap-detecting Mon Calamari officer, Admiral Ackbar.
Finally, there’s a quick scene 50 seconds into the teaser that shows John Boyega’s Finn wielding a lightsaber while battling a stormtrooper. While we’ve seen Finn wield a lightsaber in earlier previews, it’s interesting to see the Imperial soldier defending against the lightsaber with his own weapon — one that seems to be crackling with energy.
Set 30 years after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens introduces a new set of heroes and villains to the Star Wars universe, while also bringing back a long list of fan-favorite characters from the previous films. The film stars returning cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker, as well as newcomers John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, Christina Chong, and Miltos Yerolemou.
The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay penned by Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, and Michael Arndt.
Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens hits theaters December 18, 2015. It will be followed on December 16, 2016, by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, then Star Wars: Episode VIII on May 26, 2017, and the Han Solo anthology movie on May 25, 2018.
