The Force Awakens Draws Parallels With Original Trilogy And Expanded Universe.

With the second Star Wars trailer close to breaking the internet recently, I look at some parallels between the our first glimpse of The Force Awakens and the existing Star Wars universe, particularly the Original Trilogy and the now non-canon Expanded Universe (Legends).

Downed Star Destroyer: The Force Unleashed

The stunning opening shot depicting a downed Star Destroyer brings to mind this piece of concept art from the 2008 game "The Force Unleashed".

Burnt Darth Vader Helmet: The Cave Test

We've seen Darth Vader's helmet broken before... When Luke enters the Cave Of Evil on Dagobah he sees a vision of the future.

R2D2 and Luke Skywalker: Old Friends

R2D2 has at least 66 years of history with the Skywalker family by the time of The Force Awakens and it shows in his relationship with Luke. In this shot (top) we see Luke touch his droid affectionately harking back to this Return Of The Jedi deleted scene (bottom).

Lost Saber

Speaking of the Skywalker family, in this shot an alien hands a lightsaber to who we are led to believe is Leia. It appears to be the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker and then Luke Skywalker which was lost in on Cloud City during Empire Strikes Back.

Do you know your T-70 from your T-65?

It was revealed at Star Wars Celebration recently that this (top image) is the T-70 X-Wing Starfighter, an update of the iconic T-65 X-Wing Starfighter we all know and love from the Original Trilogy. It seems that the production team at Lucasfilm have revisited Ralph McQuarrie's concept art (bottom image) in order to evolve the vehicles look.

If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

The Rebel Alliance is now called The Resistance but the uniform of their pilots do not appear to have changed much in thirty years. Here you can see newcomer Poe Dameron (The Force Awakens, top image) compared to Red Leader Commander Garven Dreis (A New Hope, bottom image).

A New Generation Of Heroes

In this shot we can see a trio of heroes, Rey and BB-8 whose inspirations are rooted in Ralph McQuarrie concept art and Finn who is wearing a familiar looking suave leather jacket.

Black Robes Never Go Out Of Fashion

New villain Kylo Renn (pictured on top) shares a striking similarity with Darth Revan (pictured bottom left and right) who terrorised the galaxy in the Old Republic era, some 4,000 years before the events of The Force Awakens. Revan featured prominently in the 2003 RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Colours Of An Empire

The Empire is now known as The First Order but it still has the hall marks and colour scheme of the Imperials we all know. Once again, The Force Awakens has developed existing concepts creating something contemporary yet instantly familiar.

"The Force Is Strong In My Family..."

"You have that power too".

TIE Fighters Appear Unchanged

Cannon Fodder

Clone Troopers and Stormtroopers have been cannon fodder for as long as Star Wars has existed and it's good to see that hasn't changed. Here we compare a shot from the new trailer to The Battle Of Coruscant from Revenge of the Sith.

A Heroes Disguise

John Boyega as Finn is also a little short for a Stormtrooper.

An Important Visitor

A New Enemy

In Star Wars legends (non-canon expanded universe) post Return Of The Jedi there exists a squadron of elite Stormtroopers known as The Knighthunters. These caped imperials' mission was to hunt down and kill Jedi Knights. You can see some similarities between The Knighthunters (bottom left) and this very intimidating military figure from The Force Awakens (top). Additionally, you can see a familiar looking Death Star-eque interior.

Cautious

A Helping Hand

Tie Fighter Pilots

Just as Tie Fighters remain largely the same in design thirty years on, their pilots wear similar uniforms. As shown they are not identical however, the imperial symbol is gone and the mask now sports two symmetrical red stripes.

"That Was Too Close"

Harkening back to Return Of The Jedi, in this penultimate scene of The Force Awakens Trailer we see her Millennium Falcon working its way through narrow Imperial infrastructure.

The Money Shot

Less of a parallel and more of a re-staging, this scene recreates one of the most iconic images of the original trilogy and it completes the trailer triumphantly.

Roll On December

Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive towards this trailer and it seems Disney are dedicated to delivering the film fans so desperately desired back in 1999 when they queued up to watch The Phantom Menace. I for one look forward to seeing it in full this December but for now, excuse me whilst I watch this trailer another dozen times.