Another day, another tiny serving of new footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
It's hard to imagine that two weeks from now we'll be living in a world where we aren't obsessively scouring every trailer, teaser, and TV spot for previously unseen footage from the new Star Wars film. (Or trying desperately to avoid it.) But until that day comes, we have to live with the slow drip of cinematic morphine being squeezed off by Disney's marketing department.
Today, that comes in the form of a few different videos that have been kindly rounded up by Polygon. The first — an international TV spot, seen above — offers the most new footage, including a clip of a Sullustan X-Wing pilot (played by the same actor who played Nien Nunb, Sullustan co-pilot to Lando Calrissian in Return of the Jedi), and a longer look at Finn (John Boyega) in the gunner's seat aboard the Millennium Falcon during the dogfight on Jakku.
"The only [rumor] more ridiculous than Jar Jar Binks being a Sith Lord is that I cut Lupita Nyong’o’s performance." - J.J. Abrams
A second video piggybacks some short, new snippets on a Disney XD (the company's teen-focused channel) walkthrough of the Falcon set. It offers fresh glimpses of General Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Rey (Daisy Ridley), as well as our first (extremely brief) look at Maz Kanata, the character played Lupita Nyong'o. (Look for her around the 15 second mark.) Kanata is a new character that director J.J. Abrams has kept mostly under wraps, one who we've only heard in voiceovers across a handful of the trailers so far.
Exactly why Abrams has waited to show Kanata is unclear, but the decision has fueled rumors that Nyong'o's part in the movie was being pared down due to troubles with the CGI performance capture. Abrams recently swatted those claims, though, saying that "the only [rumor] more ridiculous than Jar Jar Binks being a Sith Lord is that I cut Lupita Nyong’o’s performance because it wasn’t satisfactory." He went on to admit that it took "many approaches" to get the character right, but was clear on the claim that her role has not been diminished. "In truth, her performance wasn’t satisfactory. It was spectacular," he told Page Six.
Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) at left, Finn (John Boyega) at right.
Also included in the roundup are some short behind-the-scenes featurettes that were debuted at Comic Con Brazil, one of which includes some rather funny footage of Ridley, Boyega, and Oscar Isaac being totally awestruck on set.
If the long, slow march toward the release of The Force Awakens seems doubly burdened by these incremental teaser releases, it's not some mind trick. The new footage has been coming faster, but also in smaller servings. In fact, last week, a few Quartz writers broke down all 388 clips that have been shown since the first trailer debuted in 2014, and collated them in an insanely detailed (and interactive) post. Judging from these new spots, it looks like they have some updating to do.
Star Wars: Now BB-8 can patrol your home