When Star Wars: Episode VII had its initial casting announcement, the reaction boiled down to “OK, that’s great… but why’s it all dudes?” Apparently they were waiting to lock in a few fan favorites.
The news comes courtesy of a rather terse press release from EW, but it’s still some interesting stuff. First up, Lupita Nyong’o, best known for 12 Years A Slave. She’s also People’s Most Beautiful Woman, so there’s that. Not announced is her role, but you don’t cast an Oscar-winner widely seen as an enormous new talent and a woman acclaimed for her beauty as Twi’lek #3, so we’re assuming it’s something fairly important.
Also up is none other than Brienne of Tarth herself, Gwendoline Christie. We’re assuming that Christie’s stagefighting experience is part of the casting process here; at a guess, she’s playing either a Sith or a Jedi. You get one guess what the Internet’s reaction has been. Lucasfilm is keeping her actual role close to the vest as well, but these aren’t hard parallels to draw.
Now all we need is a plot so we can figure out where these people are, and what that giant pig monsters in those leaked TMZ photos have to do with anything. Come on, at least tell us who the inevitable Han/Leia child is going to be.