STAR WARS: EPISODE VII Casting Call Suggests Some Surprising Things

Are we thinking all the wrong things about the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII? A recently leaked casting memo suggests that we are.

Given that the return of original trilogy stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hammil and Carrie Fisher is all but confirmed, it seems that we have all been operating under the assumption that the new trilogy of films, as a continuation of Star Wars’ multi-generational story of the Skywalker clan, would focus on their children. But the casting notice below which is starting to circulate is starting to cast some doubt on that.

The notice was first reported on by JediNet, and its authenticity has been confirmed by first Bleeding Cool and then the BBC, who received the expected “no comment” from Lucasfilm. Take a read and well see you on the other side to talk implications.

As you can see, the notice states that both these characters are leads for the film, but also mentions that both are lacking parental figures in their lives. Assuming that part of the character information isn’t deliberately misleading, always a possibility when dealing with director J J Abrams, it seems that we can discount “Rachel” and “Thomas” as being the offspring of Han, Leia and/or Luke. Providing, of course, that either of these two characters just believe that that their parents are dead but are really off doing something else and will make a dramatic entrance at some point. But I find that a bit hard to believe.

We do know that Abrams and writer Lawrence Kasdan are currently overhauling Michael Arndt’s screenplay for Episode VII and that part of their work may be introducing a whole new set of characters into the storyline. This is being regarded as the reason as to why there has been no real casting news announced, even though the start of production is only months away. Are these new characters replacing ones that were originally intended to be the next generation of the Skywalker family? Or perhaps they are friends of those characters? Lots of possibilities to keep us guessing until Disney and Lucasfilm make some sort of official announcement.

All said, though, I don’t think this bodes well for anyone who is hoping that the Expanded Universe of Star Wars novels and comics that is set post Return Of The Jedi is going to remain intact.