Last week brought the clever, trading card-themed release of several character names for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. That adorable droid that looks like a mash-up of a soccer ball and R2-D2 is named BB-8. The sith with that arguably awesome lightsaber is named Kylo Ren, and Jason Boyega’s character is named Finn. However, the name that has really got Star Wars fans talking is Captain Phasma. Who exactly is Captain Phasma?
Prior to Disney’s character name release, Disney filed copyright applications for each of their characters names that were a part of the release. However, Stitch Kingdom has uncovered that along with the characters registered who were represented in the teaser trailer, allowing us to put a name to the face (or back, in Kylo Ren’s case), a "Captain Phasma" was also a registered name.
The name has got Star Wars fans scratching their heads. There has never been a Captain Phasma in the Star Wars universe prior to this--unless you count a work of fanfiction called Tarkin’s Fist. There is no news on whether or not Phasma is on the dark side or not, whether Phasma is a human, or what gender they are.
As is always the case with these types of stories, there are some unconfirmed rumors on who Phasma truly is, my favorite rumor being that Captain Phasma is Gwendoline Christie’s character. Christie has been rumored to be playing a chrome stormtrooper who is the commanding officer to Jason Boyega's character, Finn. Christie’s character would be a villain, of course, and would have a military rank, so the rumor certainly makes sense. However, since it is nothing more than a rumor at this point, I’m trying not to fangirl too hard over the image of my favorite honorable knight from the Seven Kingdoms as a bad ass chrome stormtrooper.
This isn’t the first time that we’ve been caught off guard by character names. For quite a while, there was speculation that Daisy Ridley’s character was actually named Kira, and that she would be living on Tatooine in an tipped over AT-AT. Of course, now it has come to light that she’s actually playing someone named Rey. It stands to reason that we could be completely off base on the identity of Captain Phasma as we were with Ridley’s character. However, until more information comes to light, all we can do is guess.
I’m also hoping that whoever Captain Phasma is, that they are cool enough to make the name Captain Phasma sound a bit less like a goofy cartoon villain. I mean, come on we’ve got names like Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Han Solo, Luke Skywallker...and now Captain Phasma? Hopefully the actual Phasma will be significantly different from the brightly colored, spandex-clad, goofy, eighties super hero I can’t help but picture when I hear that name.
We have just over one year until The Force Awakens releases in theaters on December 18, 2015, so the brains at Disney Pictures have quite a long time to drag out their marketing efforts. Hopefully we’ll get some more clues in the coming months. Of course, we’ll keep you updated.
