As the release date for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' draws near, more and more info about the highly anticipated film is released to the public. At the recently concluded D23 Expo in Los Angeles this past weekend, Star Wars director and producer JJ Abrams fielded some questions regarding the film's mysterious new organization, The First Order.
The Los Angeles Times' Meredith Worener wanted to know what could possibly compel someone to support the remnants of the evil Galactic Empire of the original trilogy. A tyrannical, totalitarian state that wipes out entire planets doesn't seem like a worthy cause to pledge allegiance to, but Abrams answer helps flesh out the backstory and motivations of the First Order and its legions:
I do think the sort of obvious answer is that the Force has a light side and a dark side. It's not just one thing. It's not just that the Force is good, the Force is ... it can be a very dangerous thing. It can be a very seductive thing. I think that the story clearly requires a conflict of some sort. And so if people were rejecting the dark side somehow entirely it would be a hard thing to figure out what we would be up against. It was part of the, what felt like an authentic and true inevitability of what might of happened in the years post "Jedi."
Abrams was careful not to mention who exactly is behind The First Order:
You mean who makes up the First Order, basically? Is that what you're asking me? Obviously, you'll see the movie to understand it, but I will say that the interesting thing for me, is the history of these characters is these films, is the history that we know. So they're aware of what's come before.
To see what Abrams is taking about, you'll have to wait until Star Wars: The Force Awakens flies into theatres this December.
