What a way to kick off the Star Wars Celebration!
During Thursday's panel in Anaheim, Calif., fans got to see new trailer for the movie, in addition to stills of Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega in costume as their respective Star Wars: The Force Awakens characters. The cast was tight-lipped about just how their characters are involved in the movie, per usual, though they did share some new details. "We discover Rey on the desert planet Jakku," Ridley said. "She is a scavenger in a ship graveyard. She is completely self sufficient...and very solitary, until she meets another character, and her journey begins."
Boyega, who plans Finn, said his character is first shown "in incredible danger" and it "launches him into the Star Wars universe in a very unique way." Asked if his character is a Stormtrooper, based on last year's trailer, he declined to comment.
Asked if Finn is "a bad guy or a good guy," he said, "My memory is just gone!"
Oscar Isaac said his character, Poe Dameron, is "the best freakin' pilot in the galaxy." What else could the actor reveal about his role? "He's been sent on a mission by a certain princess and he ends up coming across Mr. John Boyega's character, and their fates are forever intertwined," Isaac teased.
New cast members also include Gwendoline Christie, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis and Max von Sydow. "We have many, many months before the movies comes out, and I promise you we will have a lot of fun over the next few months revealing these characters," director J.J. Abrams said. Meanwhile, producer Kathleen Kennedy promised audiences will see "really strong women, not only in Episode VII, but in the conversations we're having moving forward there are going to be a lot of wonderful new characters."
"I have two girls, too," she added, "so I'm under a lot of pressure."
Carrie Fisher, who reprises her role as Princess Leia, said she enjoyed being the sole female lead when she was 19 years old, "but now I need some backup."
Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew also appeared on stage.
Harrison Ford, meanwhile, is resting at home after a recent plane crash.
Isaac also talked about being hired for the movie. "I was in my hotel room waiting to see if I had been cast...and when I finally got the call that I was going to play Poe Dameron, I was so excited/nervous to see if I could tap back into that...so I blasted the Star Wars theme as loud as I could and I grabbed my shampoo bottle and [pretended it was a lightsaber]," he said. "I was like, 'No, I can do this.'"
As for Boyega? "I was scared to tell my parents I got the part…in case they didn't believe me," he shared. "I waited until that cast photo was released [in April 2014] until I told my parents...I just told [my dad] I was filming 24."
Needless to say, the trailer is pretty epic.
Audio from Luke Skywalker's speech to Princess Leia from Return of the Jedi plays as the camera shows Darth Vader's damaged helmet. "The force is strong in my family," he says. "My father has it. I have it. My sister has it."
Then, an addendum: "And you have the power, too."
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in theaters Dec. 18.