Reactions to Star Wars VII cast announcement

For tonight's entertainment-themed entry, I'm taking advantage of today being the original Star Wars Day, which is the anniversary of the premiere of Episode IV, to make good on my promise to post reactions to last month's cast announcement for Episode VII, which I made first in Pyramids on Star Wars Day and then in Music for Revenge of the Sixth.*

First, here's what I posted at fandom_lounge on JournalFen last month.

StarWars.com: Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced (Warning: page seems to display properly with Internet Explorer only; Firefox and Chrome just retrieve text, missing the photo of the entire cast at Pinewood Studios.)

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

Director J.J. Abrams says, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

One of the items that only displayed properly using Internet Explorer is this publicity still, which is much easier to see at Space.com.


The Space.com article pointed out an imbalance in the cast.

It should be noted, there are only two women and nine men (and two droids) in the cast announcement. Of course, with a large "space opera" ensemble, there will be many more cast along the way, and this doesn't preclude the possibility of more cameos for returnees to the franchise.

Follow over the jump for more about that angle and others dealing with the casting and Disney's reviving the franchise.