'Aftermath: Life Debt' Excerpt Reveals Cameo For 'The Force Awakens' Character

By: Benjamin Hart

Next week the Star Wars: Aftermath story continues with the newest book in the trilogy, Life Debt! USA Today has released an excerpt from the book, which is written by Chuck Wendig. While the book will surely explore the further adventures of Norra and Temmin Wexley, Jas Emari and Sinjir Rath Velus, along with an expanded role for Han Solo, Chewbacca and other major galactic figures, it appears another major character from a recent Star Wars film will be making an appearance in one of the book's interludes.

Maz Kanata, who first appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will have a presence in Aftermath: Life Debt. Aftermath's story takes place in the time period immediately following Return Of The Jedi and will ultimately lead into the fateful Battle Of Jakku, which will result in the "Empire's End", which is the title of the third novel in the trilogy.

Author Chuck Wendig spoke briefly with USA Today about bringing Maz into his story:

“Maz Kanata’s clearly seen much and done more than many ever will in the galaxy and that’s so tantalizing. I wanted the chance to tell just a little bit of that — to reveal a few more micrometers of Maz and her castle’s history."

You can read the excerpt itself here:

There’s only one rule in Maz Kanata’s castle.

(Well, okay, there are dozens, even hundreds of rules. If you get up on stage, you have to perform; don’t drink what’s in the brown jug; don’t go downstairs; if your animal drops a pile anywhere, you’re out; all deals need the approval of Maz before they’re done, and if you try to go around her back she’ll take what’s yours and what’s his and sell all of it to the highest bidder; and for the love of all that is holy don’t mention Maz’s eyes unless you want to get into a very long conversation.)

But there’s only one spoken rule — written, too, in a hundred lan­guages (many of them long-forgotten) on the wall beyond the bar: ALL ARE WELCOME. (NO FIGHTING.)

That rule is simple on the surface, but not easy in the execution, because Maz Kanata’s castle has been a meeting place since time im­memorial — a nexus point drawing together countless lines of alle­giance and opposition, a place not only where friend and foe can meet, but where complex conflicts are worn down flat so that all may sit, have a drink and a meal, listen to a song, and broker whatever deals their hearts or politics require. That’s why the flags outside her castle represent hundreds of cities and civilizations and guilds from before forever. The galaxy is not now, nor has it ever been, two polar forces battling for supremacy. It has been thousands of forces: a tug-of-war not with a single rope but a spider’s web of influence, domi­nance, and desire. Clans and cults, tribes and families, governments and anti-governments. Queens, satraps, warlords! Diplomats, bucca­neers, droids! Slicers, spicers, ramblers, and gamblers! To repeat: ALL ARE WELCOME. (NO FIGHTING.)

You fight? You’re done.

Star Wars: Aftermath: Life Debt will be available everywhere books are sold this Tuesday, July 12th!

Source:USA Today

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Behind The Scenes Featurette For 'Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures' Released

By: Benjamin Hart

One of the newest additions to the ever growing Lego Star Wars Galaxy is the upcoming animated series Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. The comedy is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi and focuses siblings Zander, Kordi and Rowan Freemaker. Entertainment Weekly has unveiled a new behind the scenes featurette about the series which features interviews with executive producers Bill Motz and Bob Roth, as well as Nicolas Cantu, who provides the voice of Rowan. They discuss a number of things about the series, including the "Kyber Saber" which is intricate to the plot. They also reveal that during the course of the show the Freemakers will visit Takodana and meet Maz Kanata, who were both recently seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You can watch the full featurette below:

Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures airs this Monday, June 20th, on Disney XD!

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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New Trailer For 'Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures' Released

By: Benjamin Hart

While we await the premiere of season three of Star Wars Rebels, and the release of the next Star Wars film, it's easy to forget there is plenty of exciting things happening in the Galaxy far, far away in the meantime. If you're a Lego fan(who isn't?), then you'll want to keep an eye on a brand new animated series titled "The Freemaker Adventures".

The upcoming series is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi and focuses on a family of Scavengers. A new trailer was released for The Freemaker Adventures which features plenty of new teases. Several major Star Wars characters show up in the trailer, such as Darth Vader, Maz Kanata, Lando Calrissian and Leia Organa along with the show's central characters, which include Zander Freemaker(voiced by Eugene Byrd), Rowan Freemaker(voiced by Nicolas Cantu), Kordi Freemaker(voiced by Vanessa Lengies) and the family's Battle Droid companion R0-GR(voiced by Matthew Wood). Be sure to watch the full trailer below:



Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures is set to premiere on Monday, June 20th at 10:00am (ET) on Disney XD!

Source: Star Wars(YouTube)

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New 'The Force Awakens' VFX Featurette From Wired

By: Benjamin Hart

Back in the 70's A New Hope paved the way for modern special effects in film, and today the Star Wars saga remains on the cutting edge cutting edge of filmmaking techniques with The Force Awakens. The Visual Effects of Episode VII were especially impressive due to the many CGI ships, environments and characters that were created by the incredibly talented artists at Industrial Light & Magic. Wired has released a brand new featurette focused on the VFX of The Force Awakens, in which they take a behind the scenes look at ILM's Oscar nominated work. Watch the video below for comparisons of scenes with and without CGI, as well as a look at the motion capture process that brought Maz Kanata and other characters to life onscreen.



Source: Wired(YouTube)

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EW Unveils Official Stills Of Maz Kanata & Supreme Leader Snoke In 'The Force Awakens' (Updated!)

By: Benjamin Hart

Let's face it; it's been two weeks since the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Everyone's had plenty of time to see it in theaters, so now we can talking spoilers a bit more freely. Apparently Lucasfilm agrees because they just they just revealed two of The Force Awakens' most closely guarded secrets to the world. Entertainment Weekly just revealed two new stills from The Force Awakens, under Lucasfilm's authority, which feature looks at the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke and the wise pirate Maz Kanata, portrayed via motion capture by Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o, respectively. Both characters were kept under heavy wraps until the film premiered, but now it appears the powers that be are now willing to let the Lothcat out of the bag. The photos include two different looks at Snoke, along with a clear look at Maz. You can check them out above and below!

EW also spoke with Andy Serkis and Lupita Nyong’o about the roles, which you should definitely check out here!

Update: EW has revealed another image of Snoke:

Source: EW

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JJ Abrams Reveals He Based Maz Kanata on his High School English Teacher

By: Dominic Jones

Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced us to many memorable new characters, including the 1000 year old space pirate Maz Kanata.  Abrams spoke with his hometown newspaper, The Palisadian Post, recently and revealed that he partially based Maz on his High School English teacher Rose Gilbert.  Abrams said,

"Yes, the character of Maz was originally based on the great Rose Gilbert.  We really wanted the story to feel authentic, despite being a wild fantasy. I mentioned Rose in an early story meeting as a sort of timeless, wise figure that I'd actually known in my life."

Unfortunately, Ms. Gilbert never got to see the homage Abrams paid to her on screen as she passed away in late 2013.  Abrams told The Palisadian Post,

"While we experimented with many looks and styles before settling on the character's final design, Rose was always at the center of the inspiration of Maz. Rick and I had hoped to contact Rose and show her what we were doing, but she sadly passed away while we were in the prep of the film."

The character of Maz was codenamed Rose during production.

Source: The Palisadian Post

 

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'Star Wars: Commander' Gets An Expansion Pack Inspired By 'The Force Awakens'

By: Benjamin Hart

It appears the mobile strategy game Star Wars: Commander is getting in on The Force Awakens craze with a new expansion pack that includes several elements from the upcoming film. Lucasfilm has released a trailer for the update which gives us a look at Maz Kanata's Castle in the game, presumably confirming that Takodana will be playable. Additionally we see a Luggabeast and a character that appears to be the same species of alien as a character seen inside Maz's Castle in the Vanity Fair photos released earlier this year. You can watch the full trailer below:



The expansion pack is available now, so go download Star Wars: Commander on your mobile device now!

Source: Star Wars(YouTube)

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Two New 'The Force Awakens' TV Spots Reveal More Characters

By: Benjamin Hart

Think we've seen all the TV ads for The Force Awakens? Think again. A brand new duo of TV spots just dropped, and with them comes previously unseen footage. Our friends at Making Star Wars turned us on to these. Despite their poor quality we do get looks at some brand new characters, as well as some we've heard about but haven't seen much of.

The first one, which comes from YouTube user Sarco Plank features some reused footage, but towards the beginning we get a few new scenes with Poe Dameron and two other pilots. Those pilots appear to be Jessika Pava and Nien Nunb. As Making Star Wars reports, Jessika Pava is a character that first appeared in the recently released novel Weapon of a Jedi and has been rumored to be appearing in The Force Awakens, played by Jessica Henwick. Nien Nunb, of course, is the Sullustain who co-piloted the Millennium Falcon with Lando in Return Of The Jedi and was recently confirmed to be among the returning cast of characters.

In addition, a new behind the scenes TV spot aired on Disney Channel in the UK and a recording of it showed up on YouTube courtesy of JoshGillMusic. In it there is some new scenes, as well as some slightly longer versions of previously released footage. The most notable shot comes at 0:17 where we see Finn ignite the Skywalker Lightsaber, and next to him Maz Kanata is in the bottom left corner. Even though Maz has appeared on the theatrical poster, this is the first real close up we've gotten of her.

Epic stuff! It's great to finally get a closer look at Maz Kanata, and seeing who will be part of Poe Dameron's X-Wing Squadron(s) is an extra treat.

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens opens in theaters in the U.S. on December 18th!

Sources: Sarco Plank(YouTube), JoshGillMusic(YouTube)
Via: Making Star Wars

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JJ Abrams and Lupita Nyong'o Talk Maz Kanata

By: Dominic Jones

One of the big mysteries surrounding Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens is the character Maz Kanata.  All we knew up until now is that Maz is a motion capture character played by Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o.   Many had speculated that the small creature seen in the centre of the new poster is Maz, which director JJ Abrams confirmed in an interview with Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly.

In the first TV spot for the film, we heard some of Maz's dialogue when she said “I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people. I see your eyes. I know your eyes.”  It turns out Maz has special abilities when it comes to eyes.  Not just recognizing others eyes, but also here own.  Abrams told EW, 

“I had some specific ideas about how she would work and what she would do. I had this pitch about these goggles that she wore. Her eyes are an important aspect of her character, and you’ll see how it plays out.”

Abrams also revealed some very interesting details about Maz's backstory,

“Her history is that she was a pirate for a long time. She’s lived over a thousand years. She’s had this watering hole for about a century, and it’s like another bar that you’d find in a corner of the Star Wars universe.”

While her backstory won't be fully revealed in the film, Abrams did promise that those stories would be told in other mediums down the road.  Abrams said, “In the movie, you don’t learn these things, but I know that these are things that are coming out in other venues.”

One of the things that makes Maz unique is that she is a motion capture character in a film that is making a conscious effort to have practical effects.  Abrams revealed he originally hoped to portray Maz as a puppet, but once the character's role was fleshed it was clear that a puppet wouldn't cut it and motion capture was the best option.  They crew then made a conscious effort to make sure Maz fit in with all the practical puppets and costumes on set.

Abrams said,

“Maz needed to look and feel and be just like one of those creatures. And given her mobility, and given the role that she played, it became clear that that was one creature where we should use the tool of CG. But the performance was all Lupita. She was there on set, and we did capture sessions afterwards as well, and I can’t say enough about working with her.”

This was Lupita's first motion capture performance, fortunately she had help from an expert in the field.  Andy Serkis, who pioneered the motion capture technology as Gollum in Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Planet of the Apes, plays Supreme Leader Snoke in the film (another motion capture character) and helped train Lupita in the process.

Lupita told EW,

“The biggest advice he gave me, that was so important to hold on to, is a motion-capture character you develop the same way as any other. You have to understand who the character is and what makes them who they are.”

It's nice to learn a little more about Maz.  I'm fascinated by the fact that she is over 1000 years old, making her older than Yoda!  I wonder what connection to the Force she might have and how that may differ from what we've seen until now.  And what does she see in Rey's eyes?

Source: Entertainment Weekly

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Rumor: New Piece Of Maz Kanata Concept Art

By: Benjamin Hart

Much has been revealed about The Force Awakens as of late, and even more has been leaked over the past couple of years. One character the has been shrouded in secrecy since we began hearing about her is Maz Kanata. Played by Lupita Nyong'o, Maz, who we presume is the one handing Anakin/Luke's Lightsaber off to another individual in the second trailer(above), has not been officially revealed yet, but we have gotten a few pieces of concept art of her. A new piece of artwork has surfaced recently, courtesy of Indie Revolver.

Of course, a general SPOILER WARNING is needed for the following photo and information:

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Indie Revolver claims that this artwork could be from a scene we previously heard about, where Maz presents a vision to Han, Rey and Finn. The also note that Making Star Wars shared a concept art description last year that matches this piece. Lupita Nyong'o confirmed recently that Maz Kanata will not be seen prior to the The Force Awakens' release, so enjoy the leaks because it's all we're getting until December 18th. And because this is concept art, and a rumor, Maz's look could still be very different in the finished film, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

Source: Indie Revolver

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Report: Maz Kanata Concept Art From 'The Force Awakens' Revealed

By: Benjamin Hart

Concept art is always fascinating to look at, especially when the film it's from hasn't even come out yet. Our friends at Making Star Wars have uncovered a never before seen piece of concept art of Maz Kanata who will make her first appearance in The Force Awakens, played by Lupita Nyong'o(above). Of course, if you don't want to know anything about Episode VII, use caution when reading further. This is your official SPOILER WARNING.

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Making Star Wars had this to say about it:

"The checkmark on this piece means it was given approval and probably produced in some way. So far the pieces with checkmarks are the pieces I’ve seen in official photos for other aliens and such. Since I haven’t seen Maz in the finished film and I have seen several dozen different designs so far, I cannot say for sure if that is what Maz looks like. But upon looking at Maz in the teaser, I can see some slight design connections and think it is worth considering that the creature in the design above may be Maz."

They add that this piece dates back to when Maz was still codenamed "Rose", but it does look very similar to what little we see of Maz(or who we assume is Maz) in the latest teaser trailer:

San Diego Comic Con is coming up next week and there's a very good possibility we could get a better look at Maz Kanata at The Force Awakens panel there through a new trailer or clips(or both). The SWU will certainly keep you up to date on all future reveals, both official and unofficial.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th!

Source: Making Star Wars

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