Star Wars Episode VII: rumor roundup

There have been a lot of rumors floating around Galactic Space as of late surrounding the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII movie. We’ve been covering a lot of these on our new podcast, The Empire Talks Back, but we thought it would be nice to cover them on the site as well.

First off is the biggest one, at least in my mind, and that’s the casting of John Noble as the main Sith baddie for the movie. A while back a radio show in Australia let this rumor go into the atmosphere, which they later walked back, but the host that broke the rumor is sticking to her guns. Now Noble himself stated that he hasn’t been contacted for the part, but would love to do it. We all know how these things go, maybe Noble is denying to distract us, maybe a deal is in place, maybe Noble really hasn’t received the call from Abrams. Any way this plays out, all I can say is, MAKE THIS HAPPEN!! I can’t think of anybody better suited to play a Sith than Noble. I would file this under dream casting.

Also trying to throw her hat into the Episode VII hat is Zoe Saldana, alum of Abrams’ new Star Trek works. She has expressesed interest in taking part in the new movies, the question is, where would she fit in? There’s no denying her hotness, but would it be too much to see her jump from one Star franchise to the other? Do we even see a role for her in the new Star Wars film? I wouldn’t mind her taking a role that is not central to the plot, but I don’t want to see her being a centrally focused character. I think we would need some lesser known actors to take those roles alongside our established original trilogy stars.

Last November rumors were flying that Twilight star Kristen Stewart was looking to be in the film as well. Nothing seemed to come from it, and then over the weekend the rumors resurfaced that she may be in. What can I say about this one except; I hope to file this under untrue. I haven’t seen her in much other than the Twilight movies, but she essentially had one facial expression through the whole series. Maybe it was just the material she had to work with, but I don’t see a role that she is fit to play. Even if there was a role for her, I also don’t want to see any Twilight/Star Wars puns being played out as headlines in the press.

Now the last bit of rumor has to deal with the story of the movie. Nothing has been released about it other than it will focus on the next generation of Jedi, and that we will be seeing Luke, Leia and Han with children. Another detail surfaced that we may even be seeing grandchildren here as well. If any of you are familiar with the Expanded Universe then you know Leia and Han have a grandchild already from their son Jacen, so it’s not beyond reason, especially given the age of the original trilogy actors. This may also provide some insight to the rumor from a while back that Kick Ass star Chloe Moretz may have a role in the new film as well. It was said that Moretz’s involvement was initially part of a pitch from her Kick Ass director, Matthew Vaughn, to get the directing job that eventually went to Abrams, but if the new story will include grandchildren than Vaughn may have found Abrams the perfect star.

Well, that’s all we know for now, or don’t really know, or know but may not know if its true, or…dammit, you guys get the idea. Stay tuned to Following The Nerd for more details and rumors as they break and check out the new FTN podcast, The Empire Talks Back, to stay informed on all that is Episode VII and beyond.

Follow Christopher on Twitter @AUDone44 and The Nerd @nerdfollowing