History Trivia / TheForceAwakens

** The line where [Obi-Wan Kenobi (with the voice of Alec Guinness) speaks in a vision was added after an editor discovered his inflection of the word "afraid" could be edited to sound just like the word "Rey."

** A short while after the Sequel Trilogy was announced, Creator/ZackSnyder stated that he had interest in developing a {{spin-off}} that took place in this era. He had met with Kathleen Kennedy, and the movie he proposed was rumored to have been inspired by ''Film/SevenSamurai'' and would feature all-new Jedi. While there's still no word on if that film is going to be made (though only two of the three/four spin-offs actually have directors attached to them), Snyder and Abrams have tweeted ''Star Wars''/DC Comics crossover images at each other, leaving fans curious as to whether they're just fooling around or if this will actually be made once Snyder is finished with ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' and both parts of ''Justice League''.

* DoingItForTheArt: The reason the film was not shot digitally, as well as the reason that less CGI was used, is to emulate the feeling of the Original Trilogy. It was converted to digital format in post-production.

* FanNickname:
** Some fans have joked that the title should be ''Star Wars Episode VII: [[CashCowFranchise The Search for More Money]]'' after ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}''.
** Because Creator/JJAbrams is involved with both franchises, some call this "[=NuWars=]" to parallel "[[Film/StarTrek2009 Nu]][[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness Trek]]".
** Some fans have suggested that, if ''VII'' turned out to be as bad as ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', J. J. Abrams would be forever nicknamed "Jar Jar Abrams". This has been [[http://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/672921577533677570?p=v noticed]] by Hamill. Those who disliked the film still call him this.
** The alien from the Force for Change video (Bobbajo) was dubbed "Bob the Turkle" by fans.
** Before it was officially named "happabore" the pig-like alien seen in leaked set photos was called "Hogsquaddle".
** Before BB-8's name was officially released, he was often called "FIFA Droid" or some variation thereof to allude to its resemblance to a soccer ball with a droid head on top. Some have even given it actual designations, such a G7-B1 (Germany 7 - Brazil 1) after certain well-known games.
** Prior to the reveal that Ridley's character was named Rey, "Kira" was discovered to be an on-set code name Ridley's character, and was subsequently adopted by the fandom whenever the character came into discussion.
** Kylo Ren:
*** "The Grave-robber" due to a scene in leaked concept art, which shows the character holding Darth Vader's burned helmet after retrieving it from Endor.
*** Some even called the character "[[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan]]".
*** In light of his MemeticLoser status, some fans call him "Darth Pissbaby" "Darth Poser", "Dork Vader", "Darth Angst", "Darth Tantrum" or "Crylo Ren". Sometimes on Tumblr, he is also called "Kyle Ron" or "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylie_Jenner Kylie Renner]]".
** The name of the Knights of Ren have led to jokes about them being [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow "the Knights of Ren Hoek" or "the Knights of Stimpy"]].
** Hux gets General Weasley due to Gleeson portraying Bill Weasley in ''Film/HarryPotter''.
** Captain Phasma:
*** "Chrome Trooper" due to her chrome armor.
*** "[[Series/GameOfThrones Brienne of Darth]]", since she's played by Christie.
** Creator/GregGrunberg's character has been given the nickname "Son of [[Film/ANewHope Porkins]]", given that both are overweight Rebel pilots.
** Before he was revealed as FN-2199 from ''Before the Awakening'', the MemeticBadass Stormtrooper that shouts "Traitor!" and fights Finn is jokingly referred to under the designation of "[[PunnyName TR-8R]]". Another nickname for him is "Loyal Stormtrooper" or simply "Loyal Trooper".
** Creator/DanielCraig's [[TheCameo Stormtrooper character]] has been dubbed [[Film/JamesBond JB-007]] by fans. It's reached the point where some sites actually reported that as his official designation, but WordOfGod [[https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/716353991999787008 says otherwise]]. It's eventually confirmed that his name is [[https://twitter.com/pablohidalgo/status/749616406245699584 FN-1824]] as in ''VideoGame/LEGOStarWars''.
** A lot of people took more than a little notice of [=C3PO=]'s red left arm and have started to calling him [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Punished C3PO]] because of it.
** The Internet has taken to calling Poe "Bro Dameron" thanks to his rather enthusiastic affection for his BB-8 droid and his budding bromance with Finn.
** Many people have dubbed Supreme Leader Snoke "Darth [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]]" because of their similar appearance and being played by Creator/AndySerkis. Others compare him to [[Franchise/HarryPotter Voldemort]]
** Tumblr has given the PowerTrio nicknames that are usually used together.
*** Rey is "Rey of Sunshine".
*** Finn is "Finnamon Roll".
*** Poe is "Poe Hot Damneron".
** Even bit-character, Lieutenant Mitaka gets a nickname, "Teeny Tiny Taka" and "Blueberry".

* FakeAmerican: English actor Boyega has an American accent as Finn, since Abrams thought his South London accent sounded out of place.

** In the Latin American Spanish dub, Blas García replaced Creator/GerardoReyero as Han Solo and Olga Donna-Dío replaced Creator/MonicaManjarrez as Leia Organa.

* ApprovalOfGod: Creator/GeorgeLucas was opposed to anyone else making ''Star Wars'' movies after he did, out of fear of creating a FranchiseZombie, and he was personally divided on whether or not he wanted to make another trilogy. When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, they got Lucas' story treatments for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, but the writing teams working on the new films chose not to use them (although later interviews seemed to imply they were still used in some capacity, as Kasdan mentioned that Rey was a character created by Lucas. How much of his initial treatments were used is still unknown). However, when he attended the film's red carpet premiere, he said he [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/dec/15/star-wars-the-force-awakens-premiere-carrie-fisher-turns-red-carpet-blue-and-george-lucas-gets-standing-ovation liked]] the film, and even received a standing ovation from the audience despite his lack of participation in the film.
* AscendedFanon: Long before the debut of the film, the name Captain Phasma existed way before Disney registered the trademark for the name, in the fan fiction ''Tarkin's Fist'' published in 2009, Phasma was a 10 year old daughter of an Imperial Admiral. Her name was eventually adapted by Lucasfilm for the commander of the First Order Stormtroopers and was geared with a [[ChromeChampion chrome Stormtrooper armor]] originally designed for Kylo Ren.
* BillingDisplacement: Despite portraying the main protagonist of the film (and the trilogy), Creator/DaisyRidley is billed fifth after original trilogy leads Creator/HarrisonFord (Han Solo), Creator/MarkHamill (Luke Skywalker), and Creator/CarrieFisher (Leia Organa) - who all have supporting roles - and Creator/AdamDriver (Kylo Ren), who plays the antagonist. Particularly egregious is Hamill being billed second for having less than a minute of screentime with no dialogue. ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' would continue this billing order of placing the stars of the original trilogy and Driver above Ridley.
* BTeamSequel: The first full-fledged ''Franchise/StarWars'' film not to directly involve Creator/GeorgeLucas, instead created by Creator/JJAbrams. A rare case of the B-Team Sequel being ''more'' anticipated ''because'' of a changing of the guard from the original creator.
* CareerResurrection: While Creator/MarkHamill has had a successful career as a voice actor, he hasn't played many live-action roles for a long time. Since his involvement with ''The Force Awakens'' was announced, he's appeared in more live-action works such as ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' and ''Series/TheFlash2014''.
* CashCowFranchise: Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion because ''Star Wars'' is one of the biggest (if not the TropeMaker, the TropeCodifier). And it paid off: ''The Force Awakens'' made over $500 million in its opening weekend, and got to $1 billion in 12 days (the fastest film to hit that mark). [[http://deadline.com/2016/01/star-wars-the-force-awakens-highest-grossing-film-domestic-box-office-record-beats-avatar-1201676602/ One month later]], it managed to overtake ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' as the highest-grossing movie ever in North America, and the total there is now a staggering $930 million. Worldwide, ''The Force Awakens'' stands as the third highest of all time, as well as the biggest moneymaker not directed by Creator/JamesCameron (both meaning it managed to, like ''Avatar'' and ''Film/{{Titanic|1997}}'', surpass $2 billion worldwide, and, like only ''Avatar'', do it on its initial release). Of course, that's not even getting into TheMerch, or the inevitable ''Ride/StarWarsGalaxysEdge'' at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks.

** Creator/BillieLourd originally auditioned for Rey, but would later go on to play Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix in the film.

* CelebrityVoiceActor: In the Japanese dub, Rey is voiced by the theater actress Chiaki Nagatomi.
* ColbertBump: As soon as it was announced that Pip Andersen was joining the cast, his Website/YouTube videos got a surge of views, with several of them even being featured on the front page.

** [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/mark-hamill-wishes-luke-han-had-final-scene-together-force-awakens-994444/ Mark Hamill]] wasn't too happy about the fact that Han and Luke never got a reunion.

** Oscar Isaac was not pleased with where Poe ultimately ended up in the remaining two films, and has indicated it would have been better if Poe had been killed off in this film [[WhatCouldHaveBeen as per the original plan]].
* TheDanza: Creator/JessicaHenwick plays a Resistance pilot named Jessika Pava.

** The approach with the new actors was to grab complete unknowns. When the initial announcement was made, everyone asked "Who the hell is Creator/DaisyRidley?", and she's the female lead!
** The later announced Crystal Clarke, Pip Anderson, and Christina Chong are perhaps even more unknown. Though ''[[VideoGame/Halo5Guardians Halo]]'' fans might recognize Chong as Talitha Macer of the Sedran Colonial Guard from ''Halo: Nightfall.''
** Almost everyone else either have starred in well-liked indie films (John Boyega and Oscar Isaac) or played {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s in more mainstream works (Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie). [[note]] Boyega starred in ''Film/AttackTheBlock'', Isaac starred in ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'', Nyong'o played Patsy in ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'', and Christie played Brienne of Tarth in ''Series/GameOfThrones''.[[/note]]
** Before ''The Force Awakens'', Creator/AdamDriver played bit roles in films like ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' and ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'' (alongside Creator/OscarIsaac), indie-type films like ''Hungry Hearts'' and as the EnsembleDarkhorse of the HBO series, ''Series/{{Girls}}''.

* DeletedScene: [[DeletedScene/StarWars See here]].
* DoingItForTheArt: The reason the movie was not filmed digitally, as well as the reason that less CGI was used, is to emulate the feeling of the Original Trilogy. The movie was converted to digital format in post-production.

** Creator/CarrieFisher was made to lose 35 pounds for the role which is no small feat, especially for a woman of 57 with a history of health issues, and apparently, she shed more weight while filming. She spoke about this on talk shows, joking that '[Studios] always do [ask me to lose weight]. They want to hire part of me, not all of me. They want to hire about three-fourths, so I have to get rid of the fourth somehow. The fourth can't be with me!'
** Creator/MarkHamill grew a beard to get into the role of a Jedi Master, and like Carrie, Mark lost almost 50 pounds.
** Creator/HarrisonFord grew his hair out for the role.
* ExecutiveMeddling: [[https://comicbook.com/movies/amp/news/star-wars-the-force-awakens-novel-author-alan-dean-foster-remove-finn-rey-romance Alan Dean Foster]], the author of the novelization, was forced to remove hints of a budding Finn/Rey romance as it wasn't known yet if they would become the trilogy's OfficialCouple. Foster [[CreatorBacklash was very disappointed]] that it was not to be and believes that "we all know why".

* FakeAmerican: English actor Creator/JohnBoyega has an American accent as Finn, since Abrams thought his South London accent sounded out of place.

** Some fans have suggested that, if Episode VII turned out to be as bad as ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', J. J. Abrams would be forever nicknamed "Jar Jar Abrams". This has been [[http://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/672921577533677570?p=v noticed]] by Creator/MarkHamill. Those who disliked the film still call him this.

** Prior to the reveal that Daisy Ridley's character was named Rey, "Kira" was discovered to be an on-set code name Daisy Ridley's character, and was subsequently adopted by the fandom whenever the character came into discussion.

*** In light of his MemeticLoser status, some fans call him "Darth Pissbaby" "Darth Poser", "Dork Vader", "Darth Angst", "Darth Tantrum" or "Crylo Ren". Sometimes on Tumblr he is also called "Kyle Ron" or "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylie_Jenner Kylie Renner]]".

** Hux gets General Weasley due to Domhnall Gleeson portraying Bill Weasley in [[Film/HarryPotter Harry Potter]].

*** "[[Series/GameOfThrones Brienne of Darth]]", since she's played by Creator/GwendolineChristie.

** A lot of people took more than a little notice of [=C3PO=]'s red left arm in the movie and have started to calling him [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Punished C3PO]] because of it.

** Many people have dubbed Supreme Leader Snoke "Darth [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]]" because of their similar appearance and being played by Andy Serkis. Others compare him to [[Franchise/HarryPotter Voldemort]]

** Fans were speculating that Adam Driver was going to be playing [[TheHeavy Kylo Ren]] long before it was officially announced. In the same line of thinking, people figured out that Gwendoline Christie was going to play a character named Captain Phasma based on Disney copyrighting the name.

** The Stormtrooper with the riot-control baton who calls out Finn, is actually one of his former squad mates, [[http://www.starwars.com/news/meet-fn-2199-a-k-a-tr-8r-the-stormtrooper-behind-the-meme/ FN-2199]]. Fans had been speculating that the two were connected somehow than more than just some random mook recognizing Finn. Their history is told in the ''Force Awakens'' prequel novel ''Before the Awakening'', written by Greg Rucka. The trooper has been given the nickname [[FanNickname [=TR-8R=]]], based on his line in the film, which was delivered by long-time Skywalker Sound [[http://www.slashgear.com/star-wars-the-force-awakens-tr-8rs-identity-revealed-07422082/ editor]] David Acord.
* KilledByRequest: Harrison Ford eventually got his wish to kill off Han Solo. He wanted to happen in the original trilogy, but producers and writers didn't agree.
* LyingCreator: After ''Film/TheLastJedi'' revealed that Rey wasn't related to any important characters from the original trilogy, J.J. Abrams claimed it was true to his own intention while making this film. After the trilogy finished, Daisy Ridley revealed that in fact he was toying with making her Obi Wan's granddaughter while making the film, and indeed Abrams himself later went back on that claim and made her Palpatine's granddaughter in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.

** In a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOe0tbBDHQ4 Apr 5, 2016 charity "Force for Change" video]], Mark Hamill spends the first half staring stoically into the camera, not saying a word, in reference to the many jokes that sprung up about his silent role in this film.

** In the [[https://youtu.be/dz2UnciOIfI?t=3m06s May 3, 2017 "Force for Change" video]], Mark Hamill referenced another meme involving his scene at the end, when Rey hands Luke his lost lightsaber.
-->'''Hamill''': That came with a hand. Did you bring that too, Natalie?

* NotScreenedForCritics: The first screenings of the film occur mere days before its official release. J.J. Abrams has explained this is for the purposes of preventing spoilers about the plot from reaching the internet as opposed to Disney's concerns for quality.

** Francis Lax, the French voice actor who dubbed Harrison Ford in the Original Trilogy (as well as in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'') passed away in 2013. For ''The Force Awakens'', he was replaced by Creator/RichardDarbois, who voiced Ford in most of his other his films. Other replacements for the French dub includes Béatrice Delfe as the voice of Carrie Fisher as Leia (replacing Évelyn Séléna), and Jean-Claude Donda as the voice of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO (replacing Roger Carel, who retired a few years before this movie was made).[[note]]Donda has started to replace Carel as the official voice of C-3PO ever since the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''.[[/note]]

* PlayingAgainstType: Creator/DomhnallGleeson usually plays {{Nice Guy}}s and wimps, but here, he plays the fanatical, slimy and thoroughly villainous General Hux.

** Bad Robot has J. J. Abrams's back, Greg Grunberg and Ken Leung are again in the cast, and Simon Pegg is also tagging along.
** A good amount of Star Wars animation veterans play minor roles in this movie, including Dave Filoni, Dee Bradley Baker, Robin Atkin Downes, Creator/MattLanter, Catherine Taber, Ashley Eckstein, and Vanessa Marshall.

** Everyone involved, ''especially'' J. J. Abrams.
** Creator/SimonPegg is known for his outspoken hatred of the Prequel Trilogy (though he would guest star in the far better received ''The Clone Wars''), and got to play a minor character here.

** According to WordOfGod, General Hux was born during the last days of the Galactic Empire. [[Creator/DomhnallGleeson His actor]] was born on May 12, 1983. ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' was released on May 25 of the same year.
** Poe Dameron's being born in Yavin is due to the fact that his actor, Creator/OscarIsaac, was born in Guatemala, where the Rebel Base's Yavin scenes were filmed, although his age isn't nearly as good a match as the case with Gleeson (having been born in 1979)[[note]]The script lists Poe's age as 32, which means it passes a HandWave (2 years after the Battle of Yavin, like Isaac regarding ''A New Hope'') but not a slight AgeLift (Isaac was 35 during principal photography)[[/note]].
** Creator/HarrisonFord actually has a son named Ben, just like his character. (Thankfully, though, Ben Ford has ''not'' turned to TheDarkSide, and hopefully won't murder his father.)
* RealLifeRelative: Carrie Fisher only accepted to return if daughter Billie Lourd (a.k.a. [[Series/ScreamQueens2015 Chanel #3]]) got a part. And as a CastingGag, [[http://jewishbusinessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/CARRIE-FISHER-and-her-doughter-BILLIE-LOURD-Twitter1.jpg Lourd wears Leia's famous bun haircut.]]

** Rey is also a transplant of the original version of the "another" Yoda spoke of in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' who was Luke's twin sister (but ''not'' Leia) who was being trained in secret on the other side of the universe, and was going to be the hero of the proposed Sequel Trilogy as it existed in 1980.

** The party visits an {{Expy}} of the Mos Eisley cantina, where they meet an {{Expy}} of Yoda.
** The original proposed ending for ''Return of the Jedi'' had Han killed in battle, Luke disappearing to search for his twin sister and train a new generation of Jedi and Leia giving up her title of Princess to lead a new Republic. In ''The Force Awakens'': Leia has given up her title of princess to help lead a new Republic, Luke disappears after his Jedi students are betrayed and murdered, and Han is killed in battle.

** In a very early script for ''Film/ANewHope'', the original surname for Luke and Anakin was "Starkiller" and was titled ''The Adventures of Luke Starkiller''. Of course, that's not the name they wound up with, but as nod, the Death Star {{Expy}} in this film was named Starkiller Base.

** Returning from the previous ''Star Wars'' films are Creator/AnthonyDaniels as C-3PO, Kenny Baker as R2-D2, Creator/CarrieFisher as Leia Organa, Erik Bauersfield as Admiral Ackbar, Creator/PeterMayhew as Chewbacca, Creator/HarrisonFord as Han Solo and Creator/MarkHamill as Luke Skywalker.

* RuleThirtyFourCreatorReactions: As seen in the ending of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=pxBer1mCn9c&feature=emb_logo this interview]] for the movie ''Film/Annihilation2018'', Oscar Isaac is well aware of Poe Dameron fanfiction, and calls it "very sexy". Creator/NataliePortman is in this interview too, and seems interested in said fanfiction.
* SavedFromDevelopmentHell: George Lucas first planned nine ''Star Wars'' films. Then [[TroubledProduction the original trilogy was so hard on him]] he settled for six, closing his saga with ''Revenge of the Sith'' [[SequelGap over 20 years later]]. Rumors of a Sequel Trilogy still persisted, yet they only materialized once Disney bought Lucasfilm from him and did an Episode VII [[AnachronicOrder a whole decade after Episode III]].
* SequelGap: It's been 32 years since the SeriesFauxnale (which is the last canonical story up to that point in time), and 10 since the last ''Star Wars'' Prequel.[[note]]It's also been 7 years since the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' movie, which was a CompilationMovie more than an actual installment in the saga.[[/note]]

* StarMakingRole: Will likely be this for the new cast -- particularly Creator/DaisyRidley, who has appeared only in a few short films and a handful of supporting roles on British television series before this film. Indeed, she was signed onto the [[http://www.deadline.com/2014/08/uta-signs-star-wars-lead-daisy-ridley/ United Talent Agency]] partway through the filming process. A movie she worked on previously, ''Film/TheInbetweeners2'', ''[[DeletedRole cut her out]]'' because reshoots for that were happening while she was busy on ''Star Wars''. John Boyega is also apparently highly sought-after, with Creator/RobertDowneyJr coaching the young actor on how to deal with the the fame that the role will grant him.

** After a set leak in June of 2014, showing off the ''Millennium Falcon'' along with other things, J. J. Abrams responded by tweeting that the leaks were unfounded and denied that the ''Millennium Falcon'' was present in the film... In the form of a note left on top of the ship's iconic Dejarik board.
** A short while after the Sequel Trilogy was announced, Creator/ZackSnyder stated that he had interest in developing a spin-off movie that took place in this era. He had met with Kathleen Kennedy, and the movie he proposed was rumored to have been inspired by ''Film/SevenSamurai'' and would feature all-new Jedi. While there's still no word on if that film is going to be made (though only two of the three/four spin-off movies actually have directors attached to them), Zack Snyder and J. J. Abrams have tweeted ''Star Wars''/DC Comics crossover images at each other, leaving fans curious as to whether they're just fooling around or if this movie will actually be made once Snyder is finished with ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' and both parts of ''Justice League''.
** A fairly-plausible rumor detailing the film's opening act gained popularity online... Except for one part where it was mentioned that Luke Skywalker's disembodied cybernetic hand would be a MacGuffin to kick off the plot, which was largely ridiculed and dismissed. For the update that announced the winner of the Force for Change initiative, a metallic hand was shown to be holding the note revealing the winner's name, and given the background of the location, the picture seemed to have been taken on Skellig Michael Island, where Mark Hamill had last been seen filming. Whether it's just a poke at the rumor or if it's a simple preview of what's to come is anyone's guess.

*** Harrison Ford was the worst. When Conan O'Brien offered him a thousand dollars to spill something about the new movie, he replied "A long time ago, in a place far, far away... I forget the rest." When he was on Jimmy Kimmel, he would take questions but wouldn't answer any ''Star Wars''-related ones. Cue being asked questions by a Jedi cosplayer, a stormtrooper, [[FanDisservice a fat man in a Princess Leia metal bikini outfit]], and a wookie (which caused Harrison to start a joke-argument with him, leading to his exit from the show for the episode).[[note]]This is actually a CallBack to a similar skit when he was promoting ''Film/CowboysAndAliens''[[/note]]
*** J.J. didn't fare too much better. He took questions and answered vaguely in response, and then took some suggestions from the audience. Cue the same Jedi cosplayer saying there should be a lightsaber battle, and that [[{{Squick}} Leia and Chewie should do it]]. The same fat man from earlier suggested there should be some starfighter battles. And that Leia and Chewie should do it because it's what the fans want to see. Creator/BillyDeeWilliams then stood up and suggested [[BoldlyComing nothing but two hours of Lando and beautiful ladies making love across the galaxy]]. Finally, none other than Creator/WilliamShatner stood up and suggested Kirk exploring the ''Star Wars'' universe on the road trip of a lifetime. [[RuleOfThree And that Leia and Chewie should do it]].

** Any time filming took place, they used one of the working titles on the signs to "hide" the fact that it was being filmed there. Except that they used the ''Star Wars'' font to write the names in, leaving no doubt as to which movie it actually was. Though this isn't just teasing -- when [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack Episode V]] was being filmed, the locals milked them for all the money they could. So afterwards, they had to keep the fact they were filming a ''Star Wars'' movie secret.
** J. J. Abrams has [[http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2015/10/27/jj-abrams-star-wars-the-force-awakens-trailer-luke-skywalker/74690782/ confirmed]] that Luke [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer being almost completely MIA from the advertising campaign]] is "no accident".

** Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac were previously in ''Film/InsideLlewynDavis'' together.
** Isaac and Domhnall Gleeson previously starred in ''Film/ExMachina'' together.

** Parts of Poe's backstory, namely him hailing from Yavin, were suggested by Oscar Isaac and then incorporated into the official canon.

** ''AVCO'', paying homage to one of the 32 theaters where the original ''Star Wars'' was first shown in.
** [[http://imgur.com/n47OUR0 According to Pablo Hidalgo]], there was a long period of time when the team involved with making the movie were dead-set on calling it ''Shadow of the Empire''. This was changed in part because it was [[Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire one letter off from an EU novel]] and they wanted to avoid confusion.

** Returning from the Original Trilogy are Creator/AnthonyDaniels as C-3PO, Kenny Baker as R2-D2, Creator/MarkHamill as Luke Skywalker, Creator/CarrieFisher as Leia Organa, Creator/PeterMayhew as Chewbacca and Creator/HarrisonFord as Han Solo.
** The Japanese dub brings back Creator/BinShimada as Luke Skywalker, Creator/GaraTakashima as Leia Organa, Creator/TsutomuIsobe as Han Solo and Creator/HiroshiIwasaki as C-3PO.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: ''The Force Awakens'' marked Erik Bauersfield's final performance as the voice of Admiral Ackbar before his death in 2016.

* {{Jossed}}:
** There was a wild theory involving Creator/KarenGillan's ''hair''. She [[DyeingForYourArt shaved it off]] for ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' and said in an interview she gave her hair "to the ''Star Wars'' people" to be made into a wig. This was taken out of context and news sites were saying her wig would be in Episode VII, and since she's a redhead a lot of fans thought this meant we were getting [[EnsembleDarkhorse Mara Jade]]. Karen later [[http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-07-26/karen-gillans-hair-is-not-going-to-be-in-star-wars clarified]] that no, her hair's not in the movie, it was just briefly in a warehouse with a bunch of monster props. It's since back in her possession and she's even used it for ''Series/{{Selfie}}''. Nonetheless, people still found the fact that she was so specific about the hairpiece suspicious.
** At ''Star Wars'' Celebration 2015 in Anaheim, J.J. Abrams confirmed that the new desert planet is ''not'' Tatooine as most assumed, but a new planet called Jakku.
** It had been rumored for awhile that Billie Lourd, Creator/CarrieFisher's daughter, would be playing a young Leia in a flashback. This was jossed when Lourd said in May 2015 that the character she's playing is ''not'' Leia.
** In April 2016, Creator/JJAbrams denied that Rey's parents were featured characters in the film, thus not Han, Leia or Luke. No sooner than did the news break, [[FlipFlopOfGod Abrams clarified]] that Rey merely didn't ''know'' who they were, and that they could very well already be "part of her universe," apparently putting all the candidates back on the table.
** When Phasma's design was revealed, it was believed that Creator/BenedictCumberbatch was playing the part, [[ProductionPosse having worked with the director on]] ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''. In the film, Phasma is female and played by Creator/GwendolineChristie.

** Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Jessica Henwick revealed they unsuccessfully auditioned for Rey; the roles of Korr Sella and Jessika Pava were created for them, respectively.

* ApprovalOfGod: George Lucas was opposed to anyone else making ''Star Wars'' movies after he did, out of fear of creating a FranchiseZombie, and he was personally divided on whether or not he wanted to make another trilogy. When Disney acquired Lucasfilm, they got Lucas' story treatments for Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, but the writing teams working on the new films chose not to use them (although later interviews seemed to imply they were still used in some capacity, as Kasdan mentioned that Rey was a character created by Lucas. How much of his initial treatments were used is still unknown). However, when he attended the film's red carpet premiere, he said he [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/dec/15/star-wars-the-force-awakens-premiere-carrie-fisher-turns-red-carpet-blue-and-george-lucas-gets-standing-ovation liked]] the film, and even received a standing ovation from the audience despite his lack of participation in the film.

* DeletedScene: WordOfGod states that there was at least 20 minutes worth of footage cut from the final release, including scenes such as:
** Following the death of FN-2003 during the attack on Tuanul, FN-2187 spares the life of a villager.
** At the D'Qar's Resistance base, Major Taslin Brance informs General Leia Organa that Tuanul was wiped out and there was no sign of the map. Brance also told her that Poe Dameron and his droid were missing. Organa orders them to find BB-8 instead of contacting the New Republic.
** Unkar Plutt confronts Rey at Takodana Castle and warns her of the trouble she's in. Rey attempts to defend herself but is disarmed by Unkar. Chewbacca steps in to help Rey as Unkar makes fun of him. Angered by Unkar, Chewbacca then steps on Unkar's foot and rips his arm out of its socket which lands on a table in front of Wollivan.
** Maz Kanata using the Force to collapse a ceiling on some Stormtroopers. With this removed, her Force powers in the actual movie are much more vague. This was seemingly cut fairly late into the editing process, as a LEGO set released after the film depicts Maz doing something similar.
** While escaping Maz's palace, Han Solo, Finn, Chewbacca, and Maz Kanata are cut off by a group of stormtroopers, who wished to arrest them in the name of Supreme Leader Snoke. Solo attempts to talk them out of it, asking "Do you know a Smoke?" and "What makes him Supreme?" He then asks, "Is this something [Finn] did? Is this about the stormtrooper boots?" to which Finn replies "That's how you knew." (This implies that Han realized that Finn was a deserted stormtrooper because of the boots he was wearing.)
** Leia tells her emissary Korr Sella to warn the New Republic to take action against the First Order.
** Resistance base personnel give Dameron and his pilots the all clear after the Falcon lands on Starkiller Base.
** A squad of snowtroopers and Kylo Ren search the Millennium Falcon. Kylo goes up to the cockpit and then realizes that Han Solo is here. Ren then sees Dameron's X-wings moving in to attack when he walks out.
** Finn and Rey take a snowspeeder but are pursued by another until Finn shoots the gunner and causes it to crash.
** After Rey returns to D'Qar with Finn, Dr. Harter Kalonia assures her that Finn will be fine.
** One of Leia's aides, Korr Sella, travelling to Hosnian Prime to request aid from the New Republic.

** Oscar Isaac was not pleased with where Poe ultimately ended up in the remaining two films, and has indicated it woukd have been better if Poe had been killed off in this film [[WhatCouldHaveBeen as per the original plan]].

* TheOtherDarrin: Francis Lax, the French voice actor who dubbed Harrison Ford in the Original Trilogy (as well as in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'') passed away in 2013. For ''The Force Awakens'', he was replaced by Creator/RichardDarbois, who voiced Ford in most of his other his films. Other replacements for the French dub includes Béatrice Delfe as the voice of Carrie Fisher as Leia (replacing Évelyn Séléna), and Jean-Claude Donda as the voice of Anthony Daniels as C-3PO (replacing Roger Carel, who retired a few years before this movie was made).[[note]]Donda has started to replace Carel as the official voice of C-3PO ever since the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''.[[/note]]

** Some of the more negative fans of the previous films have taken to calling the movie "The Farce Awakens".

* Enabling the UsefulNotes/AudioDescription track for the blind will have a voice describe everything that is happening on-screen. The voice in question is that of Creator/LittleKuriboh, as demonstrated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0egskvmsoVQ here]].

* LyingCreator: After ''Film/TheLastJedi'' revealed that Rey wasn't related to any important characters from the original trilogy, J.J. Abrams claimed it was true to his own intention while making this film. After the trilogy finished, Daisy Ridley revealed that in fact he was toying with making her Obi Wan's granddaughter while making the film, and indeed Abrams himself later went back on that claim and made her [[spoiler:Palpatine's granddaughter]] in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''.

* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/BillieLourd originally auditioned for Rey, but would later go on to play Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix in the film.

* ChannelHop: The first film in the main series to be released solely under the Lucasfilm brand by Creator/{{Disney}}, after (now Disney-owned) Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox released the prior six movies.

** Snowtroopers and Kylo Ren boarding the ''Millennium Falcon''.
** Finn and Rey piloting a Snowspeeder.
** One of Leia's aides, Korr Sella, travelling to Hosnian Prime to request aid from the New Republic.

* BillingDisplacement: Despite portraying the main protagonist of the film (and the trilogy), Creator/DaisyRidley is billed fifth after original trilogy leads Creator/HarrisonFord (Han Solo), Creator/MarkHamill (Luke Skywalker), and Creator/CarrieFisher (Leia Organa) - who all have supporting roles - and Creator/AdamDriver (Kylo Ren), who plays the antagonist. Particularly egregious is Hamill being billed second for having less than a minute of screentime with no dialogue. ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and ''Film/TheRiseofSkywalker'' would continue this billing order of placing the stars of the original trilogy and Driver above Ridley.

* BillingDisplacement: Despite portraying the main protagonist of the film (and the trilogy), Creator/DaisyRidley is billed fifth after original trilogy leads Creator/HarrisonFord (Han Solo), Creator/MarkHamill (Luke Skywalker), and Creator/CarrieFisher (Leia Organa) - who all have supporting roles - and Creator/AdamDriver (Kylo Ren), who plays the antagonist. Particularly egregious is Hamill being billed second [[spoiler:for having less than a minute of screentime with no dialogue]]. ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and ''Film/TheRiseofSkywalker'' would continue this billing order of placing the stars of the original trilogy and Driver above Ridley.

* BillingDisplacement: Despite portraying the main protagonist of the film (and the trilogy), Creator/DaisyRidley is billed fifth after original trilogy leads Creator/HarrisonFord (Han Solo), Creator/MarkHamill (Luke Skywalker), and Creator/CarrieFisher (Leia Organa) - who all have supporting roles - and Creator/AdamDriver (Kylo Ren), who plays the antagonist. Particularly egregious is Hamill being billed second [[spoiler:for having less than a minute of screentime with no dialogue]].