#TGIT, Indeed!
During Shonda Rhimes' three-hour block of programming on ABC Thursday, the cast members of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder explained why they couldn't wait to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens when it arrives in theaters on Dec. 18. Rhimes herself introduced a TV spot that apparently featured a portion of composer John Williams' new score.
As was true in prior teasers, Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o) opened by asking, "Who are you?" New footage showed Finn (John Boyega) and Rey (Daisy Ridley)'s first meeting, as well as Finn's TIE Fighter escaping The First Order hangar bay. In another scene, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) gave Rey a pistol, saying, "You might need this." Han was also shown in a shootout, while Finn used Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill)old lightsaber to fight a stormtrooper with an electrostaff. Fans previously saw Finn using a lightsaber to fight Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in a snowy forest.
"Nothing will stand in our way," Kylo Ren says. "I'll show them the Dark Side."
The TV spot also saw BB-8 descend stairs with surprising ease as Rey entered the Resistance command room. There, she came upon General Leia (Carrie Fisher) standing next to Han, C-3PO, a Mon Calamari and others. Fisher's real-life daughter, Billie Lourd, was also in the scene.
Luke was still nowhere to be seen, of course. "No one forgot about him!" director J.J. Abrams tells Entertainment Weekly. "We were hoping people would care, but there are a lot of things that are not on the poster, as busy as the poster is. Certainly Luke is a very important aspect of the story."
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in theaters Dec. 18.