How do you follow up a legend? That’s the core question Star Wars fans are asking themselves these days, a question the Star Wars prequels never really had to face, so entrenched as they were in the saga’s backstory. And while the world waits to meet Finn, Rey, and Poe, wondering how they’ll measure up to beloved returning characters like Luke, Han, and Leia, there’s no greater visual representation of the challenge faced by director J.J. Abrams and co. than Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ central threat: Starkiller Base.
Many of us had already grown skeptical of a second Death Star when we saw Return of the Jedi back in ’83, so we’ve every reason to be wary of a third iteration this time around. Abrams, however, teases us about the First Order’s principal weapon (pictured above in the Force Awakens‘ poster) in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly by saying, “It is very much — and it’s acknowledged as such in the movie — apparently another Death Star. But what it’s capable of, how it works, and what the threat is, is far greater than what the Death Star could have done. Starkiller Base is another step forward, technologically speaking, in terms of power.”
Speaking of the First Order… If there’s one operative of the Empire’s would-be successor whom we’ve yet to hear much about, it’s General Hux, as played by Ex Machina star Domhnall Gleeson. The actor says of his character in EW, “There’s an air of superiority, and being better than those people around you. He’s pretty ruthless. A strong disciplinarian would be a mild way of putting it… You don’t get that high up in your life that quickly unless you’re pretty ruthless. You have to put a few people down on the way to get there.”
Gleeson adds that Hux carries no weapon, as he prefers others do his killing for him. He explains what the First Order means to his character….
“It’s in the title: order. It’s a desire to lump everything in its place and just have power. The desire for power is hugely motivating for a lot of people and normally the people who want all the power are not the ones who should have it… He’s kind of opposite Kylo Ren. They have their own relationship, which is individual and unusual. One of them is strong in different ways than the other. They’re both vying for power.”
What fresh hell do you think General Hux and Starkiller Base will give the good guys? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Image credits: Entertainment Weekly, Lucasfilm
