Yesterday’s release of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer gave an, understandably, brief glimpse into the new film, but it was jam-packed and has had Star Wars fans worldwide talking since it premiered. One of those fans is Kevin Smith himself; check out his reaction to the trailer in this video.
Smith captured the feelings I had, and I am sure several other Star Wars fans had, after the first viewing of The Force Awakens trailer, regardless of if you were watching at home or in a movie theater. This new installment into the Star Wars cinematic universe truly feels like Star Wars, and brought me right back to being a kid, watching Star Wars for the first time. Though Smith doesn’t mention it in his reaction video, watching the trailer for Force Awakens didn’t make me think we were in for more films like we saw in the prequel trilogy. Despite having JJ Abrams directing the film and co-writing the screenplay rather than George Lucas, The Force Awakens trailer felt like classic Star Wars, and it is getting fans across the globe excited. Like Smith says in his reaction video, "Here, JJ, take my money." Abrams certainly had an uphill battle, creating a brand new film from a series that has been loved by so many for so long, but if the teaser is any indication, he certainly pulled it off.
While Smith echoes a sentiment I shared of wanting to see faces like Leia, Luke, Han, and Chewy in the next trailer for The Force Awakens, he also brings up a pretty interesting point about bringing Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) into the next trailer for The Force Awakens. While we didn’t see Lando in all three of the original films, causing some fans to say that Lando isn’t an integral part of the Star Wars universe, Smith does remind fans that Lando did appear in The Empires Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. Even more than that, if it weren’t for Lando (and Nien Nunb), the second Death Star wouldn’t have been destroyed, which is kind of a huge deal. I definitely have to stand with Smith and say that having Lando and Nien Nunb in the new films would be completely amazing.
Of course, Williams has heartily expressed his desire to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian, but at this stage it doesn’t look like there is any official news on bringing Lando back. Still, if Star Wars fans are going to speculate on Benedict Cumberbatch’s involvement in the film (a rumor that is, at this point, nothing more than fan speculation), we can talk about Billy Dee Williams showing up in a future Star Wars film, right?
Ultimately Smith’s video sums up a large portion of the Star Wars fandom’s reaction to the films: this looks amazing, and we want more! Sadly, we’ll have to wait until December of 2015 to see the film. Hopefully Abrams will cook up another trailer for us all very soon.
