J.J. Abrams Talks About Why [Redacted] Had to [Redacted] in The Force Awakens

Lizzy Finnegan

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J.J. Abrams Talks About Why [Redacted] Had to [Redacted] in The Force Awakens

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Spoilers ahead.

Entertainment Weekly [http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/21/jj-abrams-kylo-ren-shocking-act-star-wars-force-awakens] reports that J.J. Abrams, speaking at a Writers Guild of America event this past weekend, discussed why *that scene* was necessary for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Seriously, if you haven't seen it, click that little "x" in the top right corner. Click "back." Anything.

You've been warned: Big spoilers ahead.

If you're still reading, then you've probably seen the movie and already know that Kylo Ren kills his father, Han Solo, with a lightsaber to the chest. It was an emotionally charged scene that shocked every person sitting in the theater with me - and probably with you too.

Abrams addressed the scene, and why it was crucial to the film. Kylo Ren, unlike Darth Vader, was introduced to viewers as a villain on a journey. His mask was removed early, showing a young man with inexplicably beautiful hair (seriously, his hair should have gotten messed up with that helmet) who was still attempting to find himself and his place in the world. In order to portray him as the villain he is meant to be, Abrams said they had to do something "bold."

"Star Wars had the greatest villain in cinema history. So, how you bring a new villain into that world is a very tricky thing," Abrams said. "We knew we needed to do something f-king bold. The only reason why Kylo Ren has any hope of being a worthy successor is because we lose one of the most beloved characters."

It's an emotional scene, with Solo reaching out to his son with hopes of pulling him back from the clutches of the dark side. With this final act, the series' villain completed his transition from Ben Solo to Kylo Ren. Abrams said that The Force Awakens was intended to be about the evolution of both hero and villain, and that without a bold act, the movie "wouldn't have any guts at all."

As necessary as Abrams feels the scene was, he also admitted that it was difficult to shoot.

"It was really chilling," Abrams said. "Seeing these two actors, they weren't chewing up the scenery. They were just doing this thing in a way that, frankly, was disturbing. To see Harrison reach out and touch Adam. I know this sounds stupid, but literally watching it, I forgot - I forgot that he wasn't his son. He did it so beautifully."

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Scarim Coral

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Really? I mean anyone who had seen some behind the scene to The Empire Strike Back, Han was supposed to be killed in that film.

By all means I get the sufficiant of his death (Kylo was still in training or at least imply and it is a bold move to killed a veteran character) but Hans death was not a shocker for me.
 

Travis Fischer

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It was a great scene which I think will age far better than the final confrontation between Vader and Obi-Wan as the years go by.

Consider all the extended universe material we'll see in the future. Kylo Ren is the new Anakin Skywalker. We're in store for a whole lot of stories about his rise, all the while knowing exactly how far he's going to fall.



Scarim Coral said:
By all means I get the significance of his death (Kylo was still in training or at least imply and it is a bold move to killed a veteran character) but Hans death was not a shocker for me.
This is true. Han dying wasn't at all surprising. Mostly because it's no secret that Harrison Ford had to be begged to return to the franchise in the first place.

I was really kinda hoping that they'd do it by dropping a moon on both Han and Chewy...
 

zelda2fanboy

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Honestly, I knew this was going to happen the second they announced Harrison Ford was going to be in the movie. He wanted Han Solo killed off in Return of the Jedi and he never liked to talk about Star Wars prior to The Force Awakens press stuff. I imagine he got an airplane or two out of the deal, percentage of the gross, a promise he'll never have to come back, and a contractually obligated Indiana Jones 5. I'm not sure if that was before or after they broke his leg, but I can only imagine garbage trucks of money with Mickey Mouse ears on the sides. But yeah, very important to the narrative, too, I guess. :)
 

danielcofour

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Yes, the most predictable scene in cinema history "shocked" everyone. Really. I was gasping and definitely not rolling my eyes as to how predictable all of it was.
 

Blitsie

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Shocking? The whole set up with Kylo waiting on a catwalk across a dark abyss with red lighting everywhere made it so beyond obvious I sat there going "called it!" more than gasping in shock really, it was a pretty lazy attempt from Abrams I must admit but eh, entertaining movie otherwise looking forward to the next one.
 

SlumlordThanatos

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danielcofour said:
Yes, the most predictable scene in cinema history "shocked" everyone. Really. I was gasping and definitely not rolling my eyes as to how predictable all of it was.
"Called it."

My exact words as I sat in the theater. Up until that point, Episode VII was a point-for-point rehash of Episode IV, and I didn't expect anything else to be different. That didn't make the movie bad, because now J.J. has the obligatory love letter to the fans out of the way...and the film was epic enough to make the whole ride a riot. It wasn't cringe-worthy like the prequel trilogy.

Besides, Harrison Ford always hated being Han Solo. He was the logical choice to be the new Obi-Wan.
 

Mahorfeus

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I think it was a well done scene. Predictable? Yeah, maybe, but what does that even mean anymore?

Honestly, I had not even considered the idea that Han might die until he stepped onto the catwalk... and the music all stopped. And even then, I might have thought he actually had a chance of turning Kylo back. Of course, because of the duel in the snow shown in the trailers, it was pretty obvious that it just wasn't going to happen, meaning Han had to die.

My only gripe is that I can't decide whether the heavy-handed symbolism behind the door and the light was clever or cheesy. I also wish we got to see a bit more rage from Chewie. Maybe tear some dude's arms off and beat him with them.
 

Makabriel

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Shame on you, Escapist! I didn't want to know someone was redacted from the movie!! How dare you post spoilers in the title!
 

Scow2

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Travis Fischer said:
It was a great scene which I think will age far better than the final confrontation between Vader and Obi-Wan as the years go by.

Consider all the extended universe material we'll see in the future. Kylo Ren is the new Anakin Skywalker. We're in store for a whole lot of stories about his rise, all the while knowing exactly how far he's going to fall.
I actually like that Kylo seems to be the inverse of Anakin. Where Anakin was a flawed person trying to be good before succumbing to his anger and resentment, Ben seems to be a 'good' person trying to be Evil to forge a name for himself.
 

gigastar

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Travis Fischer said:
This is true. Han dying wasn't at all surprising. Mostly because it's no secret that Harrison Ford had to be begged to return to the franchise in the first place.
Well dont count Ford out yet, the movie coming in between episodes 8 and 9 is supposed to be one about Han.

Mind you, he probably signed a contract. That or his paycheck includes a % cut from the box office earnings.

Travis Fischer said:
I was really kinda hoping that they'd do it by dropping a moon on both Han and Chewy...
Sadly thats just not something that can be done in the space of one film.
 

Baresark

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If Kylo Ren was supposed to be the next big bad villain of the Star Wars universe, then they failed.

They started with him doing a trick that no Force user has ever done. Freezing a laser bolt in the air for minutes without even having to maintain concentration. That was crazy. I went in thinking this guy is a huge huge bad ass.

Then the rest of the movie happened. He got cut in a lightsaber battle against Fin, who by all accounts shouldn't have been able to touch him. He has never used a lightsaber before and he isn't Force sensitive. Kylo Ren had training, clearly built his own lightsaber, and is sensitive to the force. Then we get his interactions with Ray, who only just found out the Force and Jedi are not a myth, but she is reading Kylo Ren's mind, beating him in using the Force pull for Luke's lightsaber, and ultimately defeating him a lightsaber duel. It just doesn't make any sense at all.

With the exception of that opening scene with him, he seems to be extremely weak in his use of the force. You can't have a worthy followup to the baddest mother in the entire universe when they have so little power. I can't even think how he could defeat the rest of the students Luke had and Luke himself. But he did by what I can only assume is pure luck.

If you read this, does anyone else get the impression that Snoke is, himself, not a Force user? It reads more like he is tricking Kylo Ren into being a convincing stand-in for Vader. It feels more like he found a manual on making a Sith from a Jedi and doesn't really understand what it means to be a Sith. Snoke didn't seem to make a single threat, unlike Palpatine who had threat in his every single word.

Why we are at it: That last scene was really super strange. They return to the Resistance base (why not the Rebel base?), Leia and Chewy ignore each other, she doesn't follow after the medical transport taking Fin (who is by all accounts a hero of the resistance)to get much needed medical treatment, and she walks up and hugs a woman she never met previously. That was super weird.
 

Soviet Heavy

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The trouble was that it felt so rushed, like we missed a movie showing us how things were between Ben and Han before this scene.
 

Callate

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It was a well done scene, but shocking? Not particularly. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was a little saddened to see Han Solo go. But from the moment things started to head towards that confrontation, my mind says: "Which is more likely, that the character who has been set up as the face of villainy for the series gets redeemed in the very first act of the new trilogy? Or that the oldest actor associated with the series, in a new trilogy which needs above all else to establish the "new faces" as credible and meaningful parts of the universe, sees his character taken out?"

So, yeah, not a surprise.

It was, I thought, a nice touch to see a character who's struggling against the "light side" of the force in the way that so many others have struggled against the dark side; that duality has often been presented as very one-sided through most of the franchise. I hope Han's death doesn't mark the end of that theme.

(Not to say that we can't kill Kylo at some point; mother@#$&er killed Han Solo, by gum.)
 

ron1n

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They just copy pasted the Obi-Wan death scene from the first film, like they did with nearly every other scene in the film.

Darth Vader kills his father-figure after he lets him. Luke loses it and they escape.

Kylo Ren kills his father after he lets him. Chewie loses it and they escape.


Was nothing clever, or surprising about it.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Well, no, he had to kill Han because Harrison was demanding 35mil per movie, and Harrison had even demanded to have Han die in Jedi way back when because he's tired of making Star Wars movies.

I doubt they had a choice in the matter. He probably wouldn't even sign a contract if he wasn't the highest paid person on set and even then, one movie and one movie alone.
 

Metalrocks

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it certainly was a surprising moment. you didnt expect that with han solo for being in 4 movies but damn it worked. if kylo would have just given in after this little talk, this would have been a huge fail.