Footage for Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shot Inside the World’s 3rd Largest Cave?

Hang-En-Cave-Sunbeam-Phong-Nha-Ke-BangWhile it appeared as though we knew all of the filming locations for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, a new report strongly implies that Vietnam was the site of filming footage for The Force Awakens. Specifically, the country’s Hang En cave (the second-largest in the country and the third-largest on the planet) was apparently used for part of the film.

 

 

One of our readers directed us to an article about Hang En, a massive Vietnamese cave, which had an interesting detail in its description:

 

The world’s third largest cave has “rooms” that stand 330 feet high and span 600 feet across. It’s so spectacular that it’s playing home to several upcoming blockbusters, including this summer’s Pan, and others the force compels us not to disclose. We hiked through the Vietnamese jungle to explore it.

 

 

The allusion to Star Wars couldn’t be more clear in its suggestion: the writer of this piece has effectively hinted that this location is going to be used for a Star Wars movie, possibly The Force Awakens. How the writer has come across this information is unclear, but it suggests that this location and possibly others are part of filming for the movie that has taken place away from the watchful eyes of fans. Check out the article above for several stunning images of Hang En, such as the one below.

 

 

DCIM100GOPRO

 

As you might recall, when TFA concept art leak happened there was a certain image with two figures in what appears to be a cave. It was something like a throne room (similar to the Ralph McQuarrie art we use as a header logo for the blog). Also a system of caves could fit with the Skellig Michael location, where Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill filmed one scene for 3 days back in July.

 

Another possibility is that this location is being sighted for the filming of Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One (which does involve a forested/jungle-based planet, if the teaser is of any indication), which will begin shooting this Summer. However, I don’t think that’s as likely, considering that the tone of the article suggested that filming has already occurred. In any event, this rumor suggests that there is even more to the filming of The Force Awakens than we previously knew about.

 

 

Thanks to Simon M for the heads up.

 

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Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.

83 thoughts on “Footage for Star Wars: The Force Awakens Shot Inside the World’s 3rd Largest Cave?

  • April 27, 2015 at 7:32 pm
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    Well, that’s a coincidence. I visited this cave just a few days ago, haha. Honestly, I didnt find it that amazing but I’m certain it could make for a great film location!

    • April 27, 2015 at 8:17 pm
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      Gotta ask..take any pics? Am sure the community here would love to see some (including myself).

      Cheers, K

      • April 27, 2015 at 9:32 pm
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        Hey!
        Not really, only from the trek to the cave. We trekked through jungle to the cave and stayed there overnight in a very tribal setting, without electricity, which resulted in my phone dying. And my camera was stolen in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam earlier – so I was left without any camera. However, some of the people I did the tour with promised to send me over their pictures, so I can try to get my hands on those.

        • April 27, 2015 at 10:44 pm
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          Sorry to hear about your camera. Store those images in your memories and enjoy them!

  • April 27, 2015 at 7:52 pm
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    Star Wars is awesome

    • April 28, 2015 at 12:12 am
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      Funny.

      • April 28, 2015 at 4:36 am
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        Take it easy. It was only a joke

        • April 28, 2015 at 4:04 pm
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          Ok whatever dude

          • April 29, 2015 at 5:17 am
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            R.I.P. fun :l

  • April 27, 2015 at 8:16 pm
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    The large cave might double as the inside of a large asteroid as Xwings are waiting to strike (Rogue One)

  • April 27, 2015 at 8:18 pm
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    Darth Plaguies tomb!!!

    • April 27, 2015 at 9:06 pm
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      i agree

    • April 27, 2015 at 10:28 pm
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      You people are out of your god damn mind, there’s no way they’re resurrecting a character that exists solely as a single line of dialogue.

      To put it simply: Take a hint, those that enjoyed the prequels enough to really want this are an out of touch minority and I don’t care if you’re offended.

      • April 27, 2015 at 11:29 pm
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        It only appears in a line of dialog? The name yes, but his background story is the center of that key scene. And don’t forget that he’s Anakin’s father (“from a certain point of view”)

        Whether you like the PT or not, Darth Plagueis is the only way I can think of in order to link the three trilogies in a genuine way. I’m quite convinced Plagueis is in the movie. Some concept art depicts a figure that looks exactly like him.

      • April 28, 2015 at 12:30 am
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        LOL they’re making an entire spinoff based around one line of dialogue “many bothans died to get us this information”

        • April 28, 2015 at 1:11 am
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          No they’re not. Put another way, wrong deathstar dude.

          • April 28, 2015 at 6:56 am
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            fine, have it your way: they’re basing an entire spin-off film from a snippet of text in the opening scroll in front of IV.

        • April 28, 2015 at 1:32 am
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          Actually, no. The Bothans stole the plans to the 2nd death star. The spinoff is about the plans for the 1st one.

          • April 28, 2015 at 6:12 pm
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            Nope, the Bothans got the information that the second Death Star was not yet operational, that it was protected by a shield from the forest moon, and that the Emperor would be overseeing the final stages of construction. That’s not the same thing as plans.

        • April 28, 2015 at 6:40 am
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          What about that ice planet that will be in Star Wars battlefield that is based off one brief conversation between Vader and Palpatine?

      • April 28, 2015 at 12:50 am
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        What about all those people who loved the darth plagueis novel.Also, he was mentioned again in the very recent Tarkin novel where he was confirmed to be the master of palpatine. Not saying I think they are resurrecting him for the film necessarily, I’m just saying it’s not quite as hyper obscure PT-only as you imply. It would make sense to have palpatines master appear to continue the sith and to give the new foe credibility. Who’s more evil than the most evil man in the galaxy? Why- The man who taught him to be evil! Again, it’s an outside chance it will ever happen, but I’m super on board if JJ does go that route.

        • April 29, 2015 at 5:01 pm
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          Plagueis is dead. His character is what is known as a plot device in story-telling. A plot device helps the writer to move the plot along and then is discarded. Palpatine’s master or Sith legend, Plagueis fulfilled his purpose as a plot device.

          As for his novel, if Disney was banking on anything EU being the basis of the ST, there would be NO ST, because most movie goers are not readers of the EU novels. Plus the EU has now been cast aside, just like any minor plot device such as Darth Plagueis, precisely.

      • April 28, 2015 at 5:29 am
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        No, you are out of your mind. You people who think they are going to “ignore” the PT for whatever convoluted reason you decide to come up with this week are delusional. Get over it. The prequels exist. Clone Wars exists. Rebels exists. And they all matter and all are going to become more and more prevalent in the timeline as the story continues to evolve. It is awesome. Change your tampons and deal with it.

        • April 28, 2015 at 6:54 am
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          True, and also, it will be hard for JJ to create a memorable bad guy out of thin air. That will have a so-what? value, like the villian in the first JJ Star Trek movie.. Now, “Into Darkness” had a good villian, partly because he was recognizable to fans. (note: I hated “Into Darkness” as a film, but I did like Khan.)

      • April 28, 2015 at 6:42 am
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        You are just out to get the PT fans, aren’t you?

        Tell me, were you one of the Original Trilogy fanatics who cried your eyes out when you found out that the first Anthology film is not going to be about Boba Fett?

        • April 28, 2015 at 6:58 am
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          agree, all these PT bashers should go to hell. And they can take their “practical effects saved my childhood” argument” with them.

          • April 28, 2015 at 10:32 am
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            The prequels exist, and the prequels must be part of the overall story. I’m completely agree with you (bunch of “Anonymous”…).

            I’m looking forward to see Plagueis on this film.

            But, let’s separate things. You generalize people with this “PT haters” tag, and I’m not agree with that.

            I’m not a PT hater, I just accept the overall story and I want to see what’s next. Nonetheless, don’t banalize the practical effect speech, because practical effects are something most of the people agreeds to.

            Deal with it: there’s no official voice in Disney and LFL (ANY SINGLE VOICE) who’s talking today about the Prequels in terms of visual effects.

            Disney is going to spend a lot of money on this and they’re gonna try hard to do it wise. That’s why Bob Iger himself tried hard to find a technology in order to make BB8 real.

      • April 28, 2015 at 5:14 pm
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        Im pretty sure PT hater, that you were the first in line to see every PT movie in the theater. I dont understand some “fans” PT is part of star wars even if you dont like it, so dont pretend to be a “fan” , because real fans like every star wars movie even if we dont agreed with some things.
        PS. And I care less if you’re offended!!! And i hope plagueis is in this film, and I cant wait to see luke walk into the ruins of the old jedi temple in coruscant!! I love both trilogies as they are and i dont care what others think, star wars is star wars!!!

      • April 28, 2015 at 5:36 pm
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        LOL…you are quite dumb.Plagueis is the missing link behind the WHOLE SAGA….he CREATED the force sensitive bloodline in the skywalker family that you know and lovethat the WHOLE SAGA is based around…i would say that makes him probably the most important character in Star Wars…EVER. His book IS CANON…Rey is using his friggin staff for crying out loud….do not kid yourself into thinking he is of no importance and will be of no importance to this sequel trilogy…he will show up at one point in one form or another..i hate the PT…so you can bash away all you like…that still dont change the fact that Plaueis will be a part of this trilogy.palpatine was his puppet…and was the whole time.look at the black cloaked figure behind the Stormtroopers in the snow scene…that figure was too big and too tall to be Kylo Ren…looks to be the heighth of the Muun race to me…

        • April 30, 2015 at 8:42 pm
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          His book is certainly not canon. Where did you hear that? The only books that are currently considered canon are: New Dawn, Tarkin, Heir to the Jedi, & Lords of the Sith. That is it.

  • April 27, 2015 at 8:34 pm
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    Kiber crystal cave?

  • April 27, 2015 at 8:44 pm
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    reminds me of the (if I remember correctly) emperors throne room concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

      • April 27, 2015 at 10:07 pm
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        The floor is hot lava!

        • April 27, 2015 at 10:14 pm
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          Maybe I don’t understand the mind of an evil sith lord… but who’d want to sit in a room with hot lava on the floor? It would be so hot in there & climbing on those platforms just to get there seems like a pain. What if you trip?

          • April 27, 2015 at 11:22 pm
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            Just because you can…and because those throne selfies you’d be taking of your darkside self would be amazing.

          • April 27, 2015 at 11:34 pm
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            Haha! Yes!

          • April 28, 2015 at 5:37 am
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            Also, you would not be liked much and it keeps the haters at bay.

          • April 28, 2015 at 6:44 am
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            Because having a throne room of lava makes as much as much sense as a tie-fighter having obstructive solar panel wings that cover the side views of what they’re supposed to be aiming at.

          • April 28, 2015 at 10:43 am
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            The lava means he can save money on his heating bills! Must cost a lot of wonga keeping a stone cave warm! Ha ha

  • April 27, 2015 at 8:50 pm
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    It will be for the anthology.

  • April 27, 2015 at 9:09 pm
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    Yes, I think background for The Castle OR for Uber’s lair…seems fitting. 🙂

  • April 27, 2015 at 9:10 pm
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    Cool. We finally can see a jungle/cave other than one Luke went in.

  • April 27, 2015 at 9:53 pm
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    Luke’s hut. or sith’s throne room. I can even see the teaser scene involving anakin’s lightsaber set in there.

  • April 27, 2015 at 10:06 pm
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    J.J.
    The cave.
    Remember your failure at the cave.

    • April 27, 2015 at 10:30 pm
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      Is this where JJ struck down the shadowy figure of George Lucas, only to see his own face appear in the dismembered remains?

  • April 27, 2015 at 10:18 pm
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    It’s a cave where they go to find the dilithium crystals to power up the lightsaber

    • April 27, 2015 at 10:51 pm
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      🙂

    • April 27, 2015 at 11:53 pm
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      Beam me up, Chewie!

  • April 27, 2015 at 10:24 pm
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    It’s the clover field monster lol

    • April 27, 2015 at 10:53 pm
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      The Zillo beast might still be alive.

  • April 27, 2015 at 10:53 pm
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    I’d prefer if something like this was shot on green screen …

    • April 28, 2015 at 1:35 am
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      Haha!
      You are funny!!!

  • April 27, 2015 at 11:01 pm
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    Maybe it’s Ben Affleck’s new Batcave?

  • April 27, 2015 at 11:18 pm
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    Oh no it’s a Rancor

    Maybe the hutts are back!!!

    Rember that there is another……. LOBOT!!!!!!!

  • April 27, 2015 at 11:43 pm
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    Could be the “Force Fountain”, to where Kyle Katarn travelled to reconnect with the Force!!?

    • April 28, 2015 at 12:40 am
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      Could be, in the Valley of the Jedi.

      But that counts as EU as it was post ROTJ so for the moment, doesn’t exist.

      Good shout though it’s a nice idea if they brought it back and could be a bit more nostalgia for the gamers 🙂

    • April 28, 2015 at 12:40 am
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      LOL wat? That’s too deep even for me a lifelong SW fan.

  • April 28, 2015 at 12:48 am
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    Of course we don’t know all of the scenes in the movie. Some have almost certainly remained secret. Probably including several of Luke’s scenes.

  • April 28, 2015 at 12:50 am
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    Aha! So that’s the plot! The force awakens with the ancient sith! This is the cave inside the sith tomb that houses the sith army held in stasis all these millennia. The same sith army that was supposed to be revived when the sith master and apprentice from the rule of two can free them after weakening the jedi in preparation for a new sith war of conquest; only the emperor didn’t awaken them from their slumber before because he got too greedy and wanted to rule the galaxy without the interference of the ancient sith! This is what Kylo Ren is after!

    Oh yeah, was that an orange, alien hand handing over that lightsaber in the trailer? “Rose”/Lupita Nong’o is SO gonna be an elder Ahsoka Tano handing over the torch to the new generation of female force-users/jedi. Mwahahahaha! 😉

    • April 28, 2015 at 6:48 am
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      ^agree on everything except your “Rose” theory…. Rose is going to be a wise female alien done in the same vein as yoda who teaches Luke important stuff during his 30 year disappearance. It is possible that Luke marries this alien, seeing that she seems to be very close to him (in rumors) and the fact she has a wedding ring in the trailer, ha ha ha ha.

    • April 28, 2015 at 11:18 am
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      You can see the profile of Rose’s face for a split second at the very beginning of that shot if you freeze frame it. She’s kinda like if E.T. and Lupita Nyong’o had a kid. But she ain’t Ahsoka.

  • April 28, 2015 at 2:08 am
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    It will be Lukes Hideout

  • April 28, 2015 at 2:37 am
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    cortosis mines on bal’demnic

  • April 28, 2015 at 3:30 am
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    the cave is actually were fin and Chewbacca take refuge after han is slaughtered by kylo ,in the ramparts of the castle

  • April 28, 2015 at 3:39 am
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    the falcon is parked there waiting for han and chewie,only han doesn’t return,very sad scene

  • April 28, 2015 at 4:18 am
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    Walking into the cave, the first thing I would notice is that all that rubble fell from the ceiling… Yikes.

  • April 28, 2015 at 6:27 am
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    Will Smeagol or Smaug be in that cave?

    • April 28, 2015 at 6:49 am
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      Smeagol, most definately.
      Andy Serkis is playing Darth Plagueis’ mummy come to life, the same evil entity that says “there has been an awakening…” in the first teaser. Oops, forgot to put a spoiler warning.

  • April 28, 2015 at 7:16 am
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    Probably green-screened it, like they did with Italy and Tunisia in Episode III. I feel like we’d have heard about Mark Hamill et al. flying to Vietnam…

  • April 28, 2015 at 10:34 am
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    Second teaser. Luke and R2 in a cave environment. Maybe this cave? Surprised no one thought to mention that?

  • April 28, 2015 at 4:20 pm
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    Remember the chrome trooper walking in the second trailer was in a place that looked part cave part imperial tech like that found in a Star Destroyer. Could the cave be used for inside shots of the base we see all the troopers outside of in the second trailer.

  • April 28, 2015 at 4:57 pm
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    Kylo rens lair

  • April 28, 2015 at 5:51 pm
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    This is the home of… Darth Porkins. After his heroic destruction of the death star, he retreated to the world of Korriban where Darth Colonel trained Porkins in the ways of the 11 herbs and spices. Once his training was complete, he was sent to Mustafar to discover why Anakin would even truly want to stay there after killing his targets. It is there he discovers that the Rebel Alliance has the plans for the 11 herbs and spices, and he waits for an old Customer to return to the cave where it all began…

  • April 28, 2015 at 7:26 pm
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    Here’s the thing about Darth Plageuis: Yes, it is PT/EU that JJ and KK are trying so hard to steer away from,

    HOWEVER

    The character is more or less a creation DIRECTLY FROM Lucas.
    There was a SINGLE book written almost in secret with NO follow-up and hardly any reference from the rest of the EU, commissioned by Lucas, referenced in one scene, got almost no publicity in the main-stream conversation, written by the SAME AUTHOR that did the New Star Wars Canon’s DEBUT BOOK [which is also the first author to EVER use Palpatine’s actual birth-name – EVER].

    Lucas had plans for the character, BIG TIME. I’m thinking Plagueis is a key character in Lucas’ story treatment.

    Now JJ and KK are saying “oh we’re not using stuff from the PT or EU because we wanna get back to the roots”
    What they’re really saying is:

    “We’re not PUBLISIZING the stuff about the PT because, you know, we don’t want to start World War 3.”
    I’m thinking they’re using the original Lucas treatments and ideas from the prequels A LOT more than they’re letting on, and if there’s any one thing they are going to be using from the PT-Era, THIS IS IT.

    To clarify I don’t actually like the PT, THAT CONSIDERED, Plagueis STILL sounds like a good plot direction.

    Here’s my wish-list:
    Plageuis get’s somehow saved to some degree, not healthy or as a Villain himself, but more as an advisor to Kylo Ren, signifying Kylo’s passage into True Sith-dom.
    He doesn’t have to live or even do that much, he just has to be onscreen, confirming Kylo’s Sith-cred.

    Sort of a reverse-Yoda / Merlin become helpful ghost.

    Thoughts?

    • April 28, 2015 at 7:34 pm
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      I can see Plagueis novel popping-up as canon after TFA premiere. And they’re two things from Revenge of the Sith period that catched my attention: one was to listen the name Plagueis for the first time. Like “what? really? this guy existed? I wanna see that guy”, and the second was Hayden’s ghost and I’m not tired to say I can see Hayden Christensen appearing as Anakin’s ghost, because if not, it has no sense.
      Somehow I feel like Lucas was already thinking about the possibility of the sequels, whether he was about to direct them or not.

    • April 29, 2015 at 5:36 pm
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      Plagueis is canon, of course. But his book is just that, a book; it’s got NOTHING to do with the films, simply because not all of us SW fans read the EU books.

      To me SW belongs on film, and I’ll be extremely disappointed if I have to read some crappy EU book to understand a few things about the ST main villain. I get my reading entertainment elsewhere.

      Lucas had plans for the character? BIG TIME plans, you say? Show me a source to validate your claim, and perhaps I will believe it. And when I say perhaps, it’s not because I doubt your source. It’s because we all know good ol’ George has changed his mind more times than I care to remember. Hence if he did have big plans for Plagueis once that doesn’t mean said plans have stayed the same.

      We all have our own wish list for the ST. Mine is short and sweet: I want 3 new SW films done intelligently, creatively, and realistically. Unfortunately, the Plagueis plot doesn’t fit the bill at all in my book.

    • April 30, 2015 at 3:39 pm
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      I stopped reading your post after: “PT/EU that JJ and KK are trying so hard to steer away from”

      Who the hell are you? You live in a freaking fantasy world if you actually believe that nonsense! Get real, dude!

  • April 28, 2015 at 10:56 pm
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    look your thinking to hard on this theres no tomb in here ,the falcon is parked in here,yes it looks like the picture in the second trailer of r2 and luke but its not ,han is killed
    by kylo,and Chewbacca and fin take refuge in the cave were the falcon is…Really sucks when you know a true spoiler but cant get it out there

  • April 29, 2015 at 8:02 am
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    I’m not saying this is a tomb just because it’s a cave, I’m just pointing out that that would be an interesting plot direction.
    Honestly as far as the cave goes, I’m calling BS.

    This is an overblown theory based purely on the wishful thinking of some advertising guy.
    Seriously, this is wishful thinking inuendo to generate buzz, that’s it.

    At the very most, a location scout came by to research for Ep VIII.

  • April 29, 2015 at 9:04 pm
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    BAD BATCH animatic 4-episode story arc from the Clone Wars is now on starwars.com!!!!

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