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Throughout the years, Warwick Davis has appeared in three different Star Wars installments as five different characters. He has become a familiar face to those who follow the movies and is due to return this December in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as a new character, rumored to be called Bistan.

The news of Warwick’s addition to the Rogue One lineup comes just weeks after it was confirmed that Darth Vader himself would be making an appearance in the film, which is set immediately prior to the events in the franchise’s first outing, A New Hope.

With his first Star Wars appearance as Wicket the Ewok in 1983’s Return of the Jedi, and his latest appearance as Wollivan in last year’s The Force Awakens, fans are excited to see what he will bring to the screen this time around. See more about his new role here.

For some time now, I have been among those who have argued that the fandom associated with the Star Wars franchise is akin to a religion. There are those who will quarrel with the word choice, but it is hard to gainsay the dedication of fans to the original films

The post Mythology redux: The Force Awakens once again appeared first on OUPblog.

Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. Have you seen it yet? We bet you have. If you haven't, get off your computer and thee to a cinema immediately, because this week's Podcorn Podcast is all about the latest entry in the Space Opera series.

Hi, Julie here! In anticipation of the opening of The Force Awakens, Stephanie Garber and I have teamed up to bring you a post on writing lessons we’ve learned from Star Wars! These are all taken from little-known, fun facts about the movies we found compiled in a great article called 37 Things You Might Not Know about Star Wars. From those 37 things, we’ve chosen seven we feel contain great lessons on the craft of writing.

Stephanie first! Here are four writing lessons she’s learned from Star Wars:

Lucas’s Initial Draft of The Script Was Too Long

This worked out for Lucas, who was able to trim his original script and use the excess for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, but before this happened his screenplay was rejected by multiple studios. If Lucas hadn’t been an Academy Award nominee, who knows, Star Wars might have been rejected again by 20^th Century Fox, and then the world would have never known the greatness that is Star Wars.

So, don’t let the world miss out on your literary masterpiece because it’s too long. When a manuscript is significantly longer than the standard word count for its category, it can betray an underlying problem with either the writing or the story. If your manuscript is only slightly longer than average, see where you can trim extraneous words and sentences. If it’s significantly longer than the norm, it might be a sign you have unnecessary scenes, or too much going on in your story.

Alec Guiness didn’t want to be in The Empire Strikes Back because it was “fairy-tale rubbish”

As a fantasy writer, I’ve felt people haven’t always taken me seriously purely based on my genre. What makes me even sadder, I’ve seen some of my creative writing students embarrassed to share their work because they don’t want their peers to judge them—I’ve witnessed this happen to students who write a variety of genres. I’ve also noticed that my students who feel embarrassed really hold back from taking their stories as far as they could go, out of fear that others will see how deeply they love what they are writing. As a result these stories are never as strong as they could be.

But the truth is, people want to read stories where the author doesn’t hold back. Love is infectious, so I suggest putting all your passion into your stories—don’t hold back out of fear that people will judge you. Because in all honestly, people may judge you and that is their mistake to make—like Sir Alec Guiness.

Han Solo’s Best Line was an Ad Lib

This continues to be my favorite fun fact from Star Wars. During The Empire Strikes Back, right before Han Solo is frozen in carbonite Leia tells him, “I love you.” Originally Han was supposed to respond with, “I love you too,” but instead, Harrison Ford changed the dialogue to, “I know.”

This line is not only highly entertaining, it helps to define Han Solo’s character. It can be easy to give characters lines that anyone can say, such as, “I love you too.” But if you go back through you manuscript and change those lines to things that only your character could say, you will not only have stronger characters, your book will be much more entertaining.

Vadar’s Big Reveal in The Empire Strikes Back was Kept Secret From Nearly Everyone

I believe this was done to keep spoilers from leaking out. However, when I read this fun fact it inspired me to share something I enjoy doing as writer. I love keeping secrets from myself. For example, I might know that at some point my main character is going to be faced with the two things she wants most, but I try to never figure out which one she is going to choose, which not only makes it more fun for me to write—because I honestly don’t know what will happen—this also prevents me from falling into the trap of having my main character make plot based choices. Instead I get to dive into scenes with her and see what she does based on her ARC and current emotional state.

I love your four lessons, Stephanie! (I especially loved the one about Sir Alec Guiness!) Here are three writing lessons I’ve learned from Star Wars:

Lucas was Inspired by Akira Kurosawa For The Story’s POV

George Lucas has said that he was inspired by the POV used by Akira Kurosawa in his film The Hidden Fortress. Apparently, in that film, Kurosawa reveals the story through two of the lowest characters. Lucas applied this technique when he let Star Wars unfold through the perspective of the two droids.

The lesson I take from this is that Lucas studied the work of masters and applied what he learned. He saw a technique that worked and wondered what effect that technique would have on Star Wars. We can all do this. Maybe you’ve read a novel in verse and found it moving. Maybe a book written in present tense struck you with its immediacy. Don’t hesitate to try a range of writing techniques to see what works best for your story.

Theaters Didn’t Want to Show the Movie

When the original Star Wars movie was ready for distribution, fewer than forty theaters agreed to book it. A different film from 20^th Century Fox, The Other Side of Midnight, (based on a bestselling book,) was in high demand instead. Consequently, the studio required theaters that showed Midnight to also show Star Wars.

Contrary to what the theater owners expected, Star Wars became the hit and The Other Side of Midnight was a big disappointment. But the theater owners wanted to go with the movie based on a bestseller because it was safe. Sometimes this happens in publishing too—sometimes books get buzz because they follow a trend or are similar to a hit book—but don’t let this influence your writing. Audiences and readers respond to stories, not trends. Write the best story you can write. Write a story you connect with, and others will connect with it, too.

Han Solo was Supposed to Die

When Han Solo is frozen in carbonite at the end of The Empire Strikes Back, the filmmakers didn’t know if the character would live or die because Harrison Ford had only signed on for two movies. The lesson I find here is that you need to stay flexible with your story. Consider all options for your characters! Let your characters grow, and if they make choices that are more interesting than what was in your outline, follow their lead! Stay open to new developments on the page.

So those are seven writing lessons Stephanie Garber and I have learned from Star Wars. We’re sure there are many more! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments—on these lessons or any others!

Why #BoycottStarWarsVII is a lie

This imax poster will awaken the force in you.

Well now. If you were wondering how closely the new movie Star Wars universe and the Marvel Comics Star Wars universe would work together, considering that both are now owned by Disney, the answer is "Yes." You may have noticed that C-3PO was sporting a new red arm in the Force Awakens trailers, and assumed that he'd lose a limb during the film. However, the origin of Threepio's new appendage will be told in STAR WARS SPECIAL: C-3PO #1, a one-shot out this December right around the movie's release. And it's by the team of writer James Robinson and Tony Harris, the Starman team reuniting for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Jeebus it’s dueling franchises today as the actual title of Star Wars Vii, the very first SEQUEL was released. And it’s…

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

OR SW:TFA as we will all call it, because “The Force Awakens” is a horrible title.

It’s awful.

“Man, remember the closing scene in The Force Awakens? It was RADICAL.”

It should have been called RISING FORCE. Everyone would like to say that!

“What are you doing this weekend, dude?”

“Going to see Rising Force again!!!”

Possible plot lines? The force may awaken in youngsters or oldsters. Or Han Solo, who is battling broken leg and has trouble standing up let alone awakening.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS opens on December 18th, 2015, a year and a day later than THE HOBBIT THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES, so we’ll have some continuity there. It stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie, along with returning stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker and Warwick Davis.