ST Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) in Episode VII

Fassbender HAS to be in at least one Star Wars film. And I suspect he will. One of the best actors of his generation.

And he's no more "branded" by the X-men franchise than McKellen was (which didn't stop the latter from playing the ultimate Gandalf in LOTR). Fassbender's range is significant, and his roles have spanned genres, so he'd fit right in the GFFA.

 

i don't want actors that are too known.

 

As a Marine myself, albeit 20 yrs since I was discharged, I can totally understand where he is coming from with the "nasty civilian" comment, compared to a Marine most civilians ARE undisciplined. Marines are supposed to be arrogant, it is driven in to you that you are better than everyone else and it does not take long to buy in to it...with age and maturity we just learn to suppress that arrogance. He can unleash that part of him in his role and it should be awesome.

 

I think we've had enough of expressively emo Sith Lords.

 

Are you an American, @DarthBruiseLightly? This board probably isn't the appropriate place to discuss this kind of question in too much depth but where you say "a very human reaction, to say the least" I suspect it might be more culturally influenced. I'd be tempted to say it is "a very American reaction." There wasn't a hugeincrease in Australia after the Bali bombing, for instance and I suspect there won't be in France after Charlie Hebdo.

 

I guess it's a good thing we invaded Normandy during German occupation.

 

With all due respect, 9/11 was a different magnitude of attack. The US had the Boston marathon bombing, too, and the reaction here was very much on par with the reactions of Australia and France.

Everyone has a very different outlook on war and the results than they did in 1983, and that's probably what we'll be seeing instead of the 'everything is awesome' ending of rotj. Just from what is probably legit leaks, everything is a mess, there are small factions and large, superweapons in some hands and others trying to get them, the wreckage of war around and no organized cleanup of it, scavengers, attacks from the air and collateral damage... it sounds like watching a news channel in the here and now. Even though a couple came out after 9/11, it really seems like this is truly the first post 9/11 SW film.

 

Thank you.

 

I am American, but also an EU citizen, and have lived in four different countries in my day. And based on experience, I don't believe wanting to be involved in an effort to respond to an attack on an American city that claimed over 3,000 lives is uniquely American. The French are responding strongly to the Hebdo attack (though some deeply intolerant people are taking advantage of it, such as LePen), and despite your perceptions, I know quite a few very intelligent Aussies who either joined the Australian foreign service or the ADF, in part as a result of the Bali bombing. And though I do not wish to diminish the horror of that particular bombing, there is a difference in scale. 202 people were killed in that attack, which is 202 too many. But over 3,000 people were slaughtered on 9/11 in an attack that due to its "spectacularly awful" nature, for lack of a better term, was quite traumatic for both Americans, and non-Americans that lost people in it. The desire for justice and/or vengeance is indeed a very human reaction (and not uniquely American). Luckily, our societies have put in place legal norms and structures to mitigate that impulse, but it does us no good to ignore the fact that many people react this way when they feel that either they, or a grouping that they strongly identify with (family, state, nation, political system) is attacked.

 

While I haven't seen Driver in any movies, I think his casting is rather inspired. I mean, he's the sort of lanky, hipster type. And he's got sort of a goofy face, to boot. I hope he pulls it off, and and I'm pretty confident he will.

 

I hope they use his real voice, too. It's pretty deep and I could see it being menacing.

 

Animals defend their young, and I don't believe many of them are Americans.

To respond with force when our beloved are killed is as close to a universal for living beings as we can get.

As a crazy lefty, I respect Driver's honesty about his motivations and his insight into his past self.

Who is he now? That's a different question.

 

I agree. Between Anakin and Palpatine, I'll gladly welcome a break two dimensional, emotional Sith Lords.

Dooku and Maul were much better. They were two extremes but handled quite well. I hope the same for Kylo and Uber.

 

DP

 

Dooku was insanely boring to me. Maul was awesome but mainly for his design and fighting style, otherwise he didn't really do much but get killed off.

I'd like a return to a layered, interesting villain with mystery. Like Vader originally, we didn't know much but it was intriguing. There was something more to this character..

 

Behind Jar Jar, Dooku and Grievous are, IMO, the worst important characters in the Star Wars saga.

My guess is that Kylo Ren will be a million times more interesting (and iconic) than either of them.

 

DarthLightlyBruise

I completely agree. I've noticed we agree on a lot when it comes to Star Wars. Maybe one difference is, I think Abrams is perfect for Star Wars and you don't think he's anyone special but I think we both agree it's in good hands this time.

An interesting villain is incredibly important.

 

Yup, our opinions on Star Wars seem very similar. Our differences re: Abrams involves a very specific aesthetic taste that I have in film, which involves an aversion to constantly-moving cameras. I place a disproportionately high value on the beauty of good "shot composition," and that involves a more static camera (coupled with non-static acting!), and I haven't seen a lot from Abrams which suggests that he thinks too hard about that. That said, the teaser got me pretty darned excited.

 

DarthLightlyBruise

Yeah, I probably would agree that I'm not a fan of his constantly-moving cameras. I think Super 8 has some nice shots but it also has it's moments too. I will say ( again agreeing with you ) that the teaser alleviated some of my fears on his constantly-moving cameras. There was some really really nice shots in that small trailer. Obviously the opening shot is one of the ones i'm referring to. It'll be interesting to see the next trailer for the simple fact that not only will we finally get our first real look at the film but to see how much of Abrams style is making it's way into it. He went light on the lens flairs in the teaser so lets see if he honors what came before more.

 

"To be, or not to be? That is the question."

 

It's odd that no one here seems to be discussing the obviousness of Kira Rey and Kylo Ren being the Solo twins. It's not going to be a very big revelation at the end of EP7...but even the media seems to be avoiding the topic. Of course, there were many back in the day who didn't believe Sidious was Palpatine, even up to the release of the movie.

Edit: I'm feeling a little better reading a few comments where this connection has been made, but come on Star Wars fans!

 

"Glad you could drop by."

I believe this to be true and have expressed this man many times over the past months.

 

Yeah the Solo Twins have been the most (over)speculated characters in the entire TFA pre-release hype.

Personally, I'm interested in how they deal with Driver. At first we thought that this was going to be his origin story, but MSW rumors seem to point to his being already well established by the time TFA comes around. At what point did the transition happen? How is he connected to the Inquisitorus, and is the Inquisitorus still even a thing by this time in the story? If not, what happened to it?

Also, I think his character's going to be more "vibrant" than Vader, Dooku, and Grevious. They've all mostly been the cold, calculating sort, only breaking that in times of serious need. Their effect on the world is though their slow intimidation, Dooku (and the Inquisitor, I suppose) being a bit more formal and Grevious a bit more cowardly nonwithstanding.On the flipside, Kylo Ren's arc (again going by popular rumors) is a big turn away from that, with a bit more potential for emotion, what with his (potential) ties to Luke, Rey, Han, Vader, etc. Also his "fanboy"-isms are similarly a bit more emotional than we've come to expect. Granted Maul and Ventress had their fury and Sidious was just outright insane, but Ren completely diverges from this path. This could either open up the universe to different types of villains... or we could get emo wannabe dark lord. It'll be tricky for the filmmakers to pull it off just right.

 

Take the original twins Luke and Leia.

Luke is trained to be a Jedi therefore he must have been somewhat stronger in the Force than Leia.

Luke was 1st choice with Leia being the backup plan.

Maybe Kylo is the stronger of the two this time but he has already turned.

They are left with but one choice and that choice is Rey.

 

No shame in that. If you haven't already seen it, I'd highly recommend the Cohen Bros. "Inside Lewynn Davis". Driver has a small supporting role, but it's a funny one. The film stars Oscar Isaac who is incredible throughout. He and Driver have a couple of great scenes together.