UPDATE! Rumor: First Details on Max von Sydow’s Character in Episode VII Plus More on Daisy Ridley, Chewbacca and Greenham Common.
After the great article about Daisy Ridley’s home MakingStarWars are at it again. This time they posted another piece describing Max von Sydow’s character in Episode VII. Also BadAssDigest backed up both stories with a report of their own. ..
SPOILERS!
First MakingStarWars posted the following description:
Max von Sydow character is Star Wars: Episode VII is not an ancient Sith Lord or a supernatural being with an awesome voice. He’s a beaten man. He’s old enough to have lived through the Clone Wars, seen the Intergalactic Civil War unfold and then the aftermath of the fall of Emperor Palptaine. He’s no longer a man, he’s a cyborg. His eye is obscured by a ocular viewing device, most likely from a past injury which mean the could no longer use the eye with any ease. One leg is entirely cybernetic now, almost like a Super Battledroid but with metallic claws where his toes would be. He sits at a bar drinking, wary, and old. If you have an oddity, a rare weapon, you might want to bring it to him for evaluation.
Most likely his arm is the arm we were shown in the J.J. Abrams picture with the note card recently.
Later BadAssDigest posted their take on the story:
According to my sources von Sydow is playing a key character who gets the story in motion.
Remember that I told you the movie begins with the discovery of the lightsaber? Well, it isn’t Daisy Ridley who discovers it but rather a blue alien guy. He brings it to a salvage yard where Kira – that seems to be what Ridley’s character’s name is, or at least what they’re calling her on set – sees it. She’s hanging out there with von Sydow, who is an old cyborg dude, a guy who maybe has dementia. He talks a lot of nonsense. But as soon as that lightsbaber shows up, he gets lucid. He recognizes it. He begins to talk about the old days, name drops a couple of Prequel Trilogy characters, even. And then, after Kira and the alien leave he makes a call to a mysterious figure. “It’s here,” he says.
Kira’s got a pretty cool place to call home. She lives inside an abandoned AT-AT, knocked over on its side. Remember, AT-ATs are ‘all-terrain,’ so while we saw them only on a snow world, they would work just as easily on the desert planet where Episode VII opens.
You know all those shots from Greenham Common Air Base, with the X-Wing fighters and the Millenium Falcon? That’s a familiar location – it’s the Massassi Temple from the original Star Wars. Yup, they’re back on Yavin IV.
Here’s one bonus piece of info: there are pieces of concept art that show Chewbacca with a cybernetic hand, having lost it in a battle sometime after the events of Jedi. Will that be in the final film? I don’t know – there’s other concept art where he’s got both furry hands intact.
There you have it. Although these are just rumors I can tell you that this is the real deal. Take it as you like. Kudos to Jason and MSW for the reports!
UPDATE!
Another clarification from MSW on the Grennham Common set:
The Rebel base on Yavin and the Greenham Common set are not the same sets at all, they’re entirely different.
The rebel base at Greenham Common is nearly identical to what we’ve seen in the drone photos from last month. There the Millennium Falcon is sitting on the runway area while X-wings are stored in the hangers. If you’re curious as to how CGI will probably be used in the film, there are lots of large transmitters and radar dishes that adorn the tops of the grassy area above the hangers. These things were not built for the physical set so it is safe to say they will be composited in later to dress the location’s otherworldly look. There are trees in the distance but they are like those found in England, very unlike Yavin.
The Yavin base is another location called “The Pirate’s Cove.” X-wings are docked in the temple just as you would imagine from back during the battle on the first Death Star. However, netting hangs down from the top of the hanger, loosely in places. The location is foggy and not clear as if a morning fog or mist has just came in and rain was recently on the ground. The trees are very much a different sort of thing than what you would see on the Greenham Common planet’s base, which is a giant field with trees off to the horizon. One is a jungle the others is wooded. This is a temple with a lush and dense amount of tall trees just outside it. The Massassi Temple from Star Wars: Episode IV was examined closely to capture the same feel and essence of the initial rebel base.
Founder of SWNN, MNN and The Cantina forums.
Born on April 24, 1980.
Give us a break – not the old ‘cyborg with the ocular eye’ again! Max Von Sydow is most likely playing Darth Plagueis.
Doubt it. I’d like that to be the case, but I’m pretty sure that Darth Plagueis is dead and buried before the PT even really started. The only way we’d ever see him is if there are flashbacks in the movie or there was another work with a story set in that timeframe.
There are many ways Darth Plagueis could influence the plot of EpVII (and beyond), and interact with the new/old characters’ lives.
LMAO again peeps…. if u all calling for him to be Darth Plagueis, then Anakin is not the chosen one… u cant have it both wayz…
Now you’re talking!
If there is any truth to the “Darth Plaqueis” book, at the very end, it crosses Sidious’ mind.
“not the old ‘cyborg with the ocular eye’ again!”
Am I missing something here? Name me a single star wars character who is cyborg and has an ocular eye?..
Vader’s a cyborg and all functional eyes are “ocular.”
REALLY?!?!? Max Von S’s character is reduced to Dexter Jettster with Yoda-senility in Empire Strikes Back?!?
No Vader is more like a guy under an entire suit and helmet. His eyes aren’t ocular he wears a whole helmet. The only cyborg parts of him are his arm and leg which is covered anyway. In this case it’s different. Max Von Sydow will look like a normal guy but with replaced features. Vader’s more like a guy in armour.
General Grievous: Mostly machine and with brain stem only. Coughs like crazy.
Vader: Man in Machine Suit but “Twisted and Evil.” Bad case of Asthma. Still human in the end despite missing limbs and hair.
Well Grievous was a cyborg, This is a chance for Star Wars to try something new.
I’m interested to find out about where MSW heard this stuff, given that they don’t even give a citation (even something as vague as “inside sources told us about this”) in these two articles.
I don’t mind the Lightsaber-as-a-MacGuffin storyline as long as it stays away from the silly “floating hand in space” idea.
I really hope that this is true, because the way it seems to be written, Max Von Sydow’s character seems like he could be one to tie the previous two Trilogies together despite the fact that he never showed up in them.
Still seems odd to me that they would cast someone who looks as much like Portman as Ridley does and not have her play a Skywalker/Solo. Not the strangest thing to be done though I suppose.
Luke- The crazy old cyborg never told you about your father…
Oh God, Chewie with robot hand concept art, Chewie’s arm in a sling bar scene, Max von Sydow robot hand bar scene, lightsaber falling from sky, asking von Sydow about lightsaber…all these rumors are starting to blur together…
Starting? That’s all they have ever done. Lol
So Chewie is supposedly in a sling. There’s Chewie concept art with a cyborg arm. A set photo of a cyborg arm holding a card. Max Von Sydown supposedly having a cyborg arm. Luke’s severed hand supposedly flying around through space… Does R2D2 have a cyborg arm sticking out of him now? Does c3po now have a human arm? Does Leia have cyborg arms sprouting out the sides of her head to replace her bagel bun hairdo?
I will answer “anything’s possible now” to all your above questions… but don’t fret. OT fans will accept these deliberate changes because they were done by Lord Abrams and Kasden and will keep focusing their hatred over really *important* stuff like… midichlorians.
Your sarcasm doesn’t change anything. Midichlorians are indeed worthy of all the hatred they get and nobody has ever referenced Kasdan and JJ as anything like ‘lord’. Nice try though, OT fan hater. Move along.
I’m OT all the way but JJ has yet to prove himself. He could do it with this film, it seems to be going the right direction,but a lot remains to be seen.
OT stinks.
midichlorians suck
We all knew Palps was the secret villain, but midi-chlorians was the true phantom menace.
Oh, no they won’t. See below where one OT fanboy is already pitching a fit about the ‘hand’ intro.
Stop getting so worked up just because everyone hates your stupid prequals
LOL. 🙂
Since Han Solo’s leg is crushed, everything thats left saving the galaxy, is an armful of helping hands.
I think Badass’s report was out before MAE’s
Not that it matters.
Those two sites tend to play off each other.
Re: pomojema.
Wasn’t Plagueis the one who learned how to come back to life? ( You’re not familiar with Chekhov’s Gun?)
And he may be an old dude in a bar at the start, but you can bet that Von Sydow will be revealed as something grander as the story matures …
You’re totally and completely correct. This rumor matches that leaked concept art from a while ago with the cyborg looking at Vader’s helmet. That’s Max Von Sydow. The character will almost unquestionably turn out to be the anti Yoda. He will be a dark side adept who leures someie someone to the dark side. The only thing I don’t know for sure is will this turn out to he plageuis? My gut says yes it will. It meshes so well with the Darth plageuis book about how he was looking to the force and to tech and even transferring consciousness between organisms as a means to extend life and cheat death.
If true, how do you defeat such a villain?
By means of a powerful hero’s sacrifice a la Luke.
“This is the real deal…”
I’ll hold you guys to that statement. Actually I won’t because this story sounds stupid.
So did the prequel rumors…
All this stuff the last two days is seriously A LOT of fun, but i don’t believe one scrap of it. I think all these people spreading the rumors on the sites and in the Cantina are commissioned by the JJ & Co.
I’m sure a few points will end up in the movie, I mean, somethings gotta stick, right?
I know I’m wrong, but I so want to be right. I doubt they are back on Yavin, but if they are what are the odds that the lightsaber is not Lukes at all, but whatever villain Exar Kun becomes in the new history. These threads would make sense, also if the ghost of Kun is around the only one who could beat him is Luke. Wasn’t there an EU story along the lines of Kun’s spirit taking over people?
I’m not sure, but I belive they estabilished in the Clone Wars, that Siths cannot become ghosts after they die. That’s a Jedi thing only.
Kun did not become a ghost, in the EU story he had the power to sort of Disembody himself. Also, Kun was a Jedi. he was a Jedi who fell and became Sith. In the EU stories he was trapped in the temple and sort of hid his spirit in the temple from episode 4.
Also, in other material, I would say that the Force spirit concept is a Jedi concept, but I believe the Sith can become Ghosts. They do not have the same abilities, but I might be wrong about this.
One of the reasons I mention this, aside from the fact that I love the character of Exar Kun, is that he also had a special lightsaber. If the above notes were true Kuns lightsaber would be more special than Lukes would be. Why would luke want his old lightsaber back?
“Kun did not become a ghost, in the EU story he had the power to sort of Disembody himself.”
Yes, he sacrificed his massassi followers to separate his spirit from his body, to avoid capture, but Nomi Sunrider and crew arrived just in time and trapped him in the temple.
“Also, Kun was a Jedi.”
That doesn’t matter, because as you said, he became a Sith, and remained a Dark Side user until his death.
Now, the new canon says, that the Sith are captivated by the physical realm. This is why I’m not sure, that if this character is still exist, he can pull off a body leaving ritual.
I agree and highly doubt he would be in the story under any name, but if they are using the temple he built and was captured in there would remain a chance he could get out. He is one of my favorite EU characters so I would love to see him in some form in the series, though I realize that probably will not happen.
On that note, Darth Palagius? not sure on the spelling learned to create life from the force whose to say another Sith, even a sort of ghost sith, could not.
No one knows if Siths can Become ghosts. Not even the Jedi Ghosts would know this(Jedi couldn’t sense Sith in the real let alone the nether world). In Clone Wars Season6, The Whills test Yoda and apparently they did appear(Bane and a host of others) but were not real. Just some kind a fear in him. For how can he contend with Sith Ghosts? Up to that point only Qui-gon jinn was anywhere near that description. Yoda and Kenobi were still major players in the living force. Because of the prophecy of Anakin, only these are able to disappear.
“No one knows if Siths can Become ghosts.”
During the development of the final Yoda story Lucas and Filoni discussed the idea of Sith ghosts, and they dropped the idea.
force test 123..
So he’s like Luke starkiller from the original “the star wars” screen play and recent graphic novel , the old war veteran who’s not the man he used to be! Lives long enough to set the story going then pops his clogs
I’m willing to bet that they noticed that Daisy’s smile makes her look a LOT like Kira Knightly….and maybe they gave her character that coded nickname.
Goddammn it. This means the lightsaber falling from the sky must be true. I don’t care too much about that but if I see a hand floating in space where we should see a ship (after the crawl), I’m going to lose all respect for this trilogy.
“JJ Abrams raped our childhood,
JJ Abrams raped our childhood,
JJ Abrams raped our chiiiildhooood..”
Maybe it comes full circle somehow somewhere.
As usual a bunch of speculation and grasping at straws from MSW
That’s quite a chunk of rumors for today, I like the one about the AT-AT house but I’m not sure how I feel about the story line in this… sounds very unoriginal. I guess as always… we’ll see.
Max Von Sydow’s character description reminds me of Count Vidian from the A New Dawn novel.
Max Von Sydow is 85 years old! That is really rolling the dice in terms of casting him as a villain for the whole trilogy.
I believe he will be a 1 and done.
Sound like Sydows Charakter is kind a Long John Silver from treasure Island. That Would ne interesting…
Max von Sydow’s character reminds me a bit of Kane Starkiller in the Rough Draft of The Star Wars. Wonder if Max’s character might donate a robotic part of himself to help “Kira” escape?
I thought that right off the bat and living in a derelict ship as well.
Yavin IV? The Empire would never think to look for the rebels on the same planet as their first major battle victory….
They’ve been travelling the galaxy for over 40 years by this point. It’s established in empire that they went to Hoth. Then in Jedi it’s established most of their fleet travelled around together in space. It’s plausible for them to go back to previous locations.
So John Boyega is not black after all? A Tvilek maybe? Sounds interesting..any known blue aliens in sw universe?
No that’s another character completely. Apparently this character “looks like Station from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey”..
Station!
Blue alien? Hopefully a chiss. That would really be awesome. A small tribute to Timothy Zahn perhaps? Though it could just be a twilek or something.
Yes, I second the chiss homage. But likely it will be one Cad Bane’s race of people.
Senator Orn Free Taa is blue, as well as Sebulba’s twin slaves.
A blue milkman?
Duros are blue
MVS plays a beaten old Watto, still dealing junk on Tatooine
With cybernetic wings.
Damn, I just imagined and old Watto with cybernetic wings and cybernetic human legs. That’s…. horrible.
UGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!
A cybernetic eye???? Tune in next weak when you hear MVS say….. “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”
SOME OF YOU PEEPS KEEP WANTING TO SEE MORE SITH LIKE DARTH PLAGUEIS, YET YOU SAY ANAKIN FULLFILLED THE PHROPHECY ? DOEZ THAT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL ? MAKE UP YOUR MINDZ. EITHER NO MORE SITH LORDS AND ANAKIN WAS THE ONE, OR HAVE MORE SITH MEANING ANAKIN WAZ NOT THE ONE. YOU CANT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS U DAM IDIOTS.
Anakin was the chosen one and he brought balance to the force when he killed the Jedi. The Jedi were out of balance. When he became Darth Vader there were 2 Sith, the Emperor and Vader, there were 2 Jedi, Yoda and Kenobi. One master and one learner on each side. Any other Jedi who may have survived the purge were not yet full Jedi thus their training incomplete as we have already seen in the previews from Rebels.
“Anakin was the chosen one and he brought balance to the force when he killed the Jedi”
That shit sounds fucking crazy. It’s ideas like this that cause me to hate this whole prophecy nonsense.
When Anakin was discovered by Qui-Gon, the relative peace and functionality of the known Galaxy was waning. The Galactic Republic was stagnant, the Jedi numbers were dwindling as they have become increasingly involved in unJedi like matters(politics,wars etc). Not to mention a Phantom Menace was on the horizon and all the bogus, defiant, impressionable people who were influenced by it. The Jedi probably interpreted the Prophecy as a restoration and visitation to a more civilized age. Apparently they were wrong when shit hit the fan. The force is a mysterious thing and it works according to its OWN will, especially when good turns to bad and bad turns to good. Furthermore,. The FORCE is never wrong! even if IT has to defy logic a (people and things disappear and/or reappear) it bogggles even the most adept and powerful FORCE users. And most impotently, it throws off those incredulous fans who think they have a better take on what the Star Wars saga should entail.
I don’t remember the prophecy speaking of the Force remaining forever balanced if/when the Chosen One fulfilled his destiny. A gazillion things could come to disturb the balance of the Force, and Anakin would still the Chosen One who brought balance to the Force. One thing doesn’t have anything to do with the other.
Sweet Jesus someone hold my juri juice!
I think the cyborg being played by Max Von Sydow will be voiced by
ANTHONY DANIELS!
Hold on to your seats boys, this is going to be the best Star Wars movie ever made.
By far.
It’ll even make Empire Strikes Back look lame so click like.
I just had a thought. What if Max is playing an old, worn out, yet wise and battle hardened Kitster, Anakin’s childhood friend from Tatooine? That would be a cool way to tie all of the trilogies together.
I actually really like that idea…t really would bring the story full circle
You don’t cast von Sydow to play a mumbling fool. Mark my words….there will be lightning thrown.
Err…I mean…..RRRAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!
No matter the role..glad he’s in EP7. He’s in Conan TB,Flash, and The Exorcist.
The Max Von Sydow rumour is clearly lifted from the KOTOR comic book where a female mechanic (Jarael?) lives in a decommissioned starship/scrap heap with a demented old timer with a dark past.
Seriously I’d be blown away if even 4% of this stuff isn’t just old comic-book storylines filtered though Chinese whispers.
Chinese Whispers! WTF?
Why should a plastic (or cg) eye diminish Max’s performance, how would that be a waste of talent? Were not talking about his entire face beig covered, he doesn’t have a brains showing. All were talking about here is just a space version of the whole peg-leg + eyepatch. John Wayne and Jeff Bridges both got Academy Awards for their seperate performances as eye-patch-sporting rooster cogburn in the True Grit original and remake. From reading the description this sounds like just an eye patch + a camera.
I personally like the idea of max being a cogburn/long john silver kinda character, is it original? No. But bear in mind the Ep IV plot was almost entirely taken from the old japanese film Hidden Fortress.
Now as far as the use of a lightsaber as a MacGuffin? it could be worse, it could be a usb, or a suitcase or a head. My main question though is what is so important about a lightsaber? Did Luke really do that bad of a job reestablishing the jedi order that there are still only 3 lightsabers in existence?
Off the top of my head, the fact is that Luke’s blue lightysaber that he lost in bespin is also anakin’s (how’s that for symbolism?) maybe the lightsaber has a piece of anakin’s soul hidden in it (yeah right!) then there’s darth vader’s lightsaber that fell down useless death pit no.1 in the final battle, maybe that has some sort of code etched onto it’s inside that could be used to bring about the Big Bang (lucas did say “a long time ago”).
Then there’s obi-wan’s lightsaber that darth put in the trash or something. Obi-wan’s crazy, like bat-sh”t insane, I don’t even want to know what ben might stash in his lightsaber.
Then there’s yoda’s and darth sidious’ lightsabers, which I personally believe don’t actually exist at the time of Ep V. You never see either’s personal lightsaber until ep II and III respectively. yoda and sidious-sabers are definitely the most open ended options because they don’t actually exist in the post-Revenge’ star wars universe yet. who knows where either of these actually are at the time of sidious’ death, let alone when luke grows a beard. However “your father’s Light Saber” that luke gets initially is the only lightsaber to be owned by both skywalkers. so I guess that has the who legacy passing torch deal going for it.
PS the blue alien is Andy Serkis, duh
Ok. So the obvious character he might be that nobody has mentioned is Boba Fett. Seems to fit the discription. Any thoughts?
I have long suspected this.
You’re right! I believe Boba (played by Max) has been added to the cast of Expendables 4.
Congrats, JJ/Kathleen Kennedy/Lucasfilm: I officially don’t believe any rumor anymore.
All of these recent rumors feel like speculation passed off as “insider info.” They just piggyback off each other based on real or imagined photos, concept art, script drafts, etc..
I can already predict one of the upcoming rumors: Driver’s character is a mole embedded with the Republic who is eventually revealed as a villain. I say this because there was that photo of a guy who looked like Driver dressed in X-wing pilot gear.
As someone mentioned before, it sure is amazing how these “sources” know a gazillion little details, but they don’t even know a character’s name — something basic that a thousand extras and hundreds of crew members would know.
The only name ever mentioned is the one we all saw in a leaked photo (“Kira”). Funny coincidence, that.
Don’t be so naive. How are they supposed to know the names of the characters just by seeing them in concept art and seeing photos of them in scenes?
http://makingstarwars.net/2014/10/huge-rumor-star-wars-episode-viis-father-sized-moment/
Some more fun/mud from MSW.
I think JJ comes here often…and just chuckles himself silly
It all depends on how high your midichlorian count is!
How come Dark Helmet never tuned in to a Luke SKYWALKER it’s a pretty uncommon name surly the empire had records of inhabitants and that name would have stood out especially Dark helmets home planet?
Sounds like max’s character is loosely based on booster terrik from the EU.
Whoever he’s playing, his character has yet to be present at an outdoor shooting location. You may say it’s because of his age, which might be a LITTLE accurate, but either ways it leaves me very intrigued as to what kind of character he’s playing, and why exactly is the character restricted to sound-stage scenes. Is it because JJ REALLY does not want people to catch max’s costume on camera? Or is it because he has a bit part on Hoth or some cantina that only required a single indoor set?
Max: He doesn’t like you…
(Luke puts down his drink and turns to Max with a look of annoyance and total lack of fear)
Luke: Why should I care what he says? I already know what he THINKS and I couldn’t care less about what I’m seeing, so why are you telling me what he’s SAYING?
What i can’t figure out is why you care what he thinks, and why you care whether or not I give a damn that he doesn’t like me.
Max: (long pause) … I don’t like you either.
I have it on good authority (one of my mates is a make-up artist currently contracted out at pinewood) that Sydow’s character is more than likely Kanan from Star Wars: Rebels. The impression she got was that he is a retired jedi figure of sorts and acts as a mentor to several members of the new cast. I wouldn’t count this as completely factual, considering it’s pure speculation on her part. Kanan would be about Sydow’s age at this point in the timeline though…
Has anyone heard anything of Von Sydow’s character actually being an old clone who served under Obi-wan or Anakin during the clone wars? Could he be Captain Rex or another clone we know from the Clone Wars?
Von Sydow’s character is the one Daniel Day-Lewis was in talks for.
No! Daniel was going to play My Left Hand – the one holding the lightsaber.
Is it wrong to say Von Sydow looks like a full size Kenny Baker?
Yes it is!!! because it is Kenny Baker that looks like a half size Max von Sydow.
Sydow’s character is not the main villain but he appears friendly to our heroes and then says “It’s here,” like he’s delivering a message to the main villain, Adam Driver.