As Star Wars: The Force Awakens has found its trailer circulating through the internet faster than an erroneous price listing for a Wii U, one particular mystery has stepped to the forefront of the trailer analysis market: who's voice is behind the ominous narration for the first look at J.J. Abrams' slick but appropriate for canon sequel? Despite the relatively fresh nature of this debate, there's already a front runner and an apparent "winner" for the honors of who actually voiced the trailer. That winner, according to a report that's surfaced online, is none other than Andy Serkis.
According to HitFix, Andy Serkis, who we know is already in the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is the mysterious voice leading our ears on a journey into the future of the Star Wars universe. The site says they verified that it's Serkis' voice, and also reports that the actor is "playing a pivotal role in the film, although he will not have a lot of screen time."
For comparison purposes (and because you know you're going to want to watch the trailer again,) watch the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer below.
Now take a listen to this clip of Serkis' performance as Caesar from Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.
If you listen very closely to the second portion of narration, beginning with our phantom menace in the snow, you can hear a lot of similarities between Andy Serkis' performance from this summer, and this new batch of foreboding. However, it's the first portion of narration that got the ball rolling, as the initial rumors/musings coming out of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer sightings was that Benedict Cumberbatch was, in fact, the voice behind the creepy narrator. For reference purposes, here's a clip of Cumberbatch's performance as Smaug in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.
Now, one very important thing to keep in mind with this story is the fact that, while it's been reported that Andy Serkis is the voice in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer, it isn't officially confirmed, nor is an official source named. Although Cumberbatch isn't "officially" a part of the cast to the new Star Wars film, we have to remember that J.J. Abrams is a notorious practitioner of "mystery box" tactics. For all we know, Benedict Cumberbatch might have been able to swing a small part in the Star Wars universe by providing voice-over for this trailer that might not even be from a character in this film. Which could set the scene for an even greater evil, to appear in the next two Star Wars films, personified by Sherlock himself, to appear. Maybe?
Of course, this doesn't mean Andy Serkis couldn't have supplied one portion of narration, and Benedict Cumberbatch another. After all, the Sith do abide by the Rule of Two that Yoda encapsulated thusly: "always two there are, no more, no less. A master, and an apprentice." Star Wars: The Force Awakens reveals its true nature on December 18th, 2015; which means there's plenty of time for this story to be disproven, proven again, completely wiped out by the Galactic Empire's remnants.
