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Adam Driver will play Kylo Ren, Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Darth Vader-like bad guy, Vanity Fair revealed today.
Ren commands the First Order, whose secret hideout is located on an ice planet filled with snowtroopers, as you can see in the image above.
Lupita Nyong’o will play Maz Kanata, an alien pirate that Lucasfilm's visual effects studio, Industrial Light & Magic, will create with CGI.
The publication also confirmed that Oscar Isaac’s character, Poe Dameron, will pilot an X-Wing, but we learned that he fights for the Resistance, the new trilogy's equivalent of the original trilogy's Rebel Alliance.
Though the article doesn't include specific plot details, what it shows implies a kind of harmonic resonance with the original Star Wars trilogy. Back when the Empire ruled the galaxy, the Rebel Alliance was hiding on Hoth, a snow planet, for example.
The teaser article also includes a photo, taken by Annie Leibovitz, of the brain trust behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens. As you can see in the image below, from left to right, there's composer John Williams, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan and director J.J. Abrams.
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The background holds some tantalizing details, too. On the wall, you'll see posters that read like travel brochures. One advertizes "Alderaan by Moonlight," and according to a listing on Acme Archives Direct, it was a limited-edition poster from artist Steve Thomas. More of Thomas' posters adorn the wall, calling out locations and characters from the original trilogy like Endor, and you can get a closer look at them on his official site.
Vanity Fair is also promising "one more big character reveal" in its upcoming issue, which will be available later this week. In the meantime, you can watch the second Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser trailer below.
Today is Star Wars Day, so there's bound to be more news from the galaxy far, far away. To keep up with the news, be sure to browse Polygon's StoryStream.
