Since the moment Disney jettisoned the bloated Expanded Universe in favor of a more streamlined world, everything that has been released for Star Wars is considered “canon.” That includes all the comics, the novels, the cartoon series, and even the new Star Wars Battlefront video game.
Well, at least PART of the new Star Wars Battlefront game is canon. While the nature of sandbox multiplayer PvP precludes historically accurate outcomes to each battle, Lucasfilm had final approval on design. Combine that knowledge with the free “Battle of Jakku” DLC being everyone”s first look at the new movie and suddenly the Battlefront trailer from E3 is setting off a firestorm of speculation.
Did you see it? The gameplay trailer focuses on the Rebels taking down a Star Destroyer (1). Watching the behemoth crater into the desert sand will look familiar to anyone who has watched the new Star Wars trailer. On top of that, this scuffle between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire is taking place in what appears to be an abandoned Tusken Raider village, judging by the hut design (2). But the final kicker is at the very beginning of the trailer featuring Tatooine”s iconic double-suns (3).
Now you could say this is a coincidence. Or maybe EA deliberately wanted to mimic the feel of the opening salvo of “The Force Awakens” trailer to help hype the game. But some of these parallels are worthy of some serious side-eye. The Star Destroyer definitely appears to be the same make and model, and even appears to have gone into the sand at the same angle:
Then there”s the market or wherever that gets destroyed while Rey and Finn make a run for it. In the background you can CLEARLY see structures that look to be made of similar material to those all over the mountainside of the Battlefront skirmish.
But there”s no mountains in the trailer! But there are. Just not in the second one. When the Millennium Falcon took to the skies back in the first teaser, you can clearly see the craggy mountains in the distance and – as we now know – the Falcon will travel through the downed Star Destroyer during this dogfight.
What is missing from all the “Force Awakens” trailers? The sun. Despite a hot planetary surface and clear blue skies, there”s nary a light source to be seen.
So maybe Jakku and Tatooine ARE different planets. Or maybe the First Order came in and renamed everything because they can. Or maybe Jakku is literally a smokescreen to keep fans from putting two and two together. After all, this is a JJ Abrams film.
We'll all find out soon enough!