The latest tidbit unearthed in the slow (official) trickle of news and updates coming from the Star Wars: Episode VII film set is a rather significant one: a first look at the new version of the iconic X-Wing fighter.
In the latest clip to promote the Star Wars-themed Force for Change initiative for UNICEF, Episode VII director J.J. Abrams pleads for viewers to support the charity and have a chance to win a visit to the film set, not to mention a private screening before its release in December 2015.
And as the camera pulls back, we get our debut glimpse at the new film’s take on the X-Wing (watch the video below for the full, wide view). Clever. As the clip winds down, a pilot walks into the scene, scales the ladder, and then closes the cockpit door—right as an MSE-6 repair droid (a.k.a. the “mouse droid”) rolls through the shot to Abrams’ staged dismay.
Die-hard fans initially pegged the ship as a Z-95 Starfighter, which it looks closer to at a glance, but the official Star Wars Twitter feed has since clarified that it is indeed the X-Wing for Episode VII. If you look closely, it seems as though the split (that creates the “X”) is vertically cut rather than horizontally on this one; it ought to look much more familiar in flight, albeit with some tweaks.
Abrams seems inclined to keep teasing bits of the film in these clever ways that send social networks into a tizzy, and honestly, we can’t help but enjoy the building frenzy a bit ourselves.
Also, if you’re in the market for leaked story bits then Badass Digest claims to have some verified by multiple sources connected to the film, with both broad narrative details and significant character info revealed. Tread lightly if spoilers are a concern, of course.
[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWBGrkc360M”]
Source: YouTube
