In Which We Break Down The ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Trailer Shot-By-Shot

Happy Star Wars trailer day, everybody! And, at Gamma Squad, happy shameless overanalysis day! Let’s break this trailer down, shall we?

First, what’s missing stands out: No Luke, no Han, no R2-D2, no Chewie… We only see iconic vehicles and symbols, none of the original cast. Heck, we don’t even see the faces of most of the new cast. It’s a curious decision, but intriguing.

Next, there’s the most telling bit from the trailer, which isn’t an image, but rather the sole lines of dialogue, delivered in voiceover.

“There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The Dark Side… and the Light side.”

There’s a lot that is intriguing about that little clip of dialogue. First of all, that’s almost certainly Max Von Sydow, although some are claiming Andy Serkis and others Benedict Cumberbatch, and he does not sound like a good guy! Which in turn raises a couple of questions. First of all… who’s he talking to? Secondly, is he implying that since the fall of the Empire, the Force has essentially lain dormant? And that both the Dark and the Light sides are returning?

Now, onto the shots!

Meet John Boyega! Turns out he really is a stormtrooper! Also it looks like he doesn’t start the movie in a good way!

Meet Shameless Bid For Toy Revenue! Seriously, no idea what the heck this thing is about, but we bet there are plenty of toys being made of it as we speak. At least it’s not frickin’ Jar-Jar.

Next we have a few shots that more or less tell us what happened to John Boyega before he wound up on Tatooine. It appears a squad of Stormtroopers will be staging a raid on… something. We’re guessing it doesn’t go well.

Here’s Daisy Ridley, on what appears to be the industrial version of a landspeeder. Seriously, this thing should have John Deere written on the back.

Oscar Isaac here appears to be a rebel X-wing pilot. And we will be getting battles in atmosphere, since we, oddly, don’t see any ships in space in this particular trailer!

Also of interest: This does not appear to be Tatooine they’re fighting on. Nor, for that matter, do the Stormtroopers appear to be on said desert planet.

Next, we see the character we’re calling Cross-Guard Guy. We don’t see a face, but judging by the body shape and body language, it’s probably Adam Driver, something Robo Panda spotted. Either way, he’s got a bitchin’ lightsaber. Why do the Sith get all the cool sabers?

Just for comparison, you can find a GIF of Driver from our post about rumors he’s playing a Sith. Note the walk; the body language matches pretty well.

And then, there’s this:

Notice that the design of this Falcon closely matches the leaked GIF we saw last week. Also, it’s fighting TIE Fighters.

This is an interestingly tight-lipped trailer, but it does its job. We’re excited. Any thoughts on what it may have inadvertently told us?

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