by: Jay Carlson
We might not be getting a new trailer or new behind the scenes footage, but Entertainment Weekly has released nine new images and bits of information from Star Wars: The Force Awakens for us to ponder and drool over.
The Hollywood Reporter points out an interesting bit from Entertainment Weekly’s piece, “A new twist to the family drama, the magazine reveals offhandedly, is that Luke’s sister Leia now has her own lightsaber… and it’s the one that Darth Vader used to use, before his death.” (UPDATE: Upon reading Entertainment Weekly’s original post, it seems Leia has Luke’s lightsaber that he received in A New Hope. The one that was lost after he lost his hand in Empire Strikes Back. This is info that has been out there for quite some time.)
There’s also been some interesting bits of information about villain Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver like, his fixation on Darth Vader, “The movie explains the origins of the mask and where it’s from, but the design was meant to be a nod to the Vader mask,” Abrams says. “[Ren] is well aware of what’s come before, and that’s very much a part of the story of the film.”
Abrams also elaborates a bit on the villains unique lightsaber, “The lightsaber is something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character.”
Where the name Kylo Ren comes from is a huge new piece of the puzzle as well. “He is a character who came to the name Kylo Ren when he joined a group called the Knights of Ren,” Abrams says. “He is not your prototypical mustache-twirling bad guy. He is a little bit more complex than that, and it was a great joy to work with Adam Driver on this role, because he threw himself into it in a deep and remarkable way.”
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- After a violent escape, John Boyega’s Finn runs from the wreckage of a TIE fighter, afraid, desperate, but lucky to be alive.
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- Director J.J. Abrams relaxes on the set of The First Order’s Starkiller Base with his co-writer Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back). Note the dark red script pages in Kasdan’s hand, a security measure to prevent copying.
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- Inside this shimmering armor is a warrior for The First Order, Captain Phasma (played by Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones). Her character’s name has an unexpected origin…
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- Our cover model, Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) strikes a pose with his homemade lightsaber. It turns out, his true identity has been masked from us in more ways than one …
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- Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, a cruel leader of The First Order who craves to show the galaxy his might. (This image was briefly shown at Comic-Con but never released in detail until now.)
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- Old friends, but in a new time and place. R2-D2 seems to have hardly changed, but C-3PO (played by Anthony Daniels) now sports an unexplained red arm.
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- Squad goals. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and a team of merciless First Order stormtroopers lay waste to a peaceful Jakku village.
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- Rey (Daisy Ridley) meets up with BB-8 while cutting him free from a fellow scavenger’s net. But what is that large creature — and who is riding atop it? (More on that later.)
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- Daisy Ridley’s Rey and John Boyega’s runaway stormtrooper Finn flee from The First Order on the desert world Jakku in this new shot from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, out Dec. 18.
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- Director J.J. Abrams and actress Daisy Ridley in a previously released behind-the-scenes shot. Abrams was recruited to join the film when Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy asked him a question about another young Star Wars desert-dweller…
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- There’s a reason the X-Wing fighter is black, but J.J. Abrams wants to keep that a mystery for now. Stealth tech? This is another previously seen shot from the Star Wars Celebration fan event in April.
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- “Chewie, we’re home.” Entertainment Weekly’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens report will include the story of Harrison Ford’s emotional first day on set.
indierevolver.com 
Now only if there was a way to fall asleep until december and wake up.
Couldn’t agree more! It’s coming so soon though!
The actual quote re: the lightsaber is:
“Princess Leia (Fisher) has come into possession of the lightsaber once possessed by her father, Darth Vader, and later lost by Luke (Hamill) when Vader separated him from his arm during that “join me” duel in The Empire Strikes Back.”
So, Leia doesn’t have Vader’s red lightsaber, just Anakin’s blue one, which we saw in the second teaser.