The folks over at MarketSaw are reporting that an anonymous source has “confirmed” the following actors will be making appearances in the next installment of the Star Wars saga:
“Ian McDiarmid, Harrison Ford (our exclusive story), Carrie Fisher (our exclusive story), Mark Hamill (our exclusive story), Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Warwick Davies, Benedict Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman. I believe Cumberbatch and Oldman were pursued for the same role, but I don’t know how that will work out with the script changes, but I’m told they are both involved.”
If this list turns out to be true, it could possibly mean that Episode VII would be a lead-in to the next generation of Jedi rather than dealing with their stories from the get-go. This would actually make the most sense so that there would less of a “dark time” between films like the twenty-year gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.
MarketSaw’s source also reports that the original premise of Episode VII was to follow “twins” and “a path to darkness” (sound familiar?), but rumors are circulating that Abrams is actually in the process of changing that all around. I have to wonder how much of this is fact, rumor-mongering, or misdirection by Abrams and Disney so as to keep the movie as secret as possible before filming begins this summer.
Talk is also going around that Adam Driver, a relative unknown in the film game, is in the final stages of being cast…as the main villain. While I’m not sure of his skills as an actor (not having seen any of his work), I am a little relieved that the role will most likely go to a new face instead of a familiar one. Yes, Cumberbatch, Weaving, and Oldman have all been fantastic as antagonists in their respective careers, for something as massively popular and well-known as Star Wars a cast of relative unknowns would be the way to go instead of a star-studded cast.
We’ll see how this all plays out in the coming months as filming begins.
About Reporter Michelle Lawhorn:
Michelle, a.k.a. Stormraven, is what can only be described as an eclectic nerd. Her interests and expertise range from Doctor Who to Lord of the Rings, cosplay to comics, and Bollywood to opera to name just a few. When not raving about her “fandoms”, she can be found working on projects as an Associate Editor at Haven Publishing and adding to her ever-growing list of Things to Cosplay. She can currently be found searching for more material to feed her newfound obsession with Star Wars.
noooo way….stupid excited. ian mcdiarmid? wow. force ghost evil emperor?