A Scary New 'Star Wars' Weapon, Han Solo's Fate, and More Possible 'Force Awakens' Spoilers

The Dark Side has a new weapon in Star Wars: The Force Awakens — and it sounds like a doozy. For Rolling Stone’s new Star Wars cover story, reporter Brian Hiatt sat in the editing room with director J.J. Abrams, where he saw a precious “minute or two” of footage from an epic space battle. Part of this battle was “a lightsaber duel, where Kylo Ren is unmasked, revealing an intense-looking, unscarred [Adam] Driver.” Another was a weapon that the filmmakers called the “Sunsucker,” which Hiatt described as “a churning energy device on the ground of a planet that sends a massive, lavalike beam upward – Sunsucker or not, it looks scary.” Also in the ring: X-Wings, TIE fighters, and “something like a Death Star” (which audiences have seen on the movie poster, but not in any trailer footage).

Rolling Stone wasn’t granted a screening of scenes involving original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill. However, Hiatt did speak with all three actors, and picked up on some possible clues about their role in future Star Wars sequels (which has been kept under wraps by Disney). Hamill, the story observes, was “in the process of regrowing a distinctly Obi-Wan-ish beard,” which sounds like a sure-fire sign that Luke Skywalker is back for Episode VIII. (This has been semi-confirmed previously, including in a tweet from Hamill himself last week.) Hiatt wrote that both Fisher and Hamill mentioned having conversations with Rian Johnson, the next sequel’s director. As for Ford, he said “not a word about future films” during his Rolling Stone interview, leading Hiatt to wonder if the omission had “some dark significance for Solo’s fate.” (Oh man…)

In the process of reporting on The Force Awakens, Hiatt managed to confirm some fan theories while casting doubt on others. Yes, Admiral Ackbar will return, and the mysterious flag-covered castle does indeed belong to Maz Kanata (Luptia Nyong’o) — though Abrams insisted on keeping the flags’ geeky prequel references to a minimum. (“I don’t want to be too about pod racers. I’d rather come up with our own stuff,” Abrams told his effects supervisor.) However, that popular theory about Finn (John Boyega) being descended from Lando Calrissian might be a nonstarter; Abrams said the character was written “without any race in mind.” Interestingly, he also told RS the same thing about Rey (Daisy Ridley), which throws her much-speculated parentage (Is she Han and Leia’s kid? Luke’s daughter?) into question. Ridley also told the magazine that one thing she loved about Rey is that she’s not “another princess” — which could simply mean she hasn’t lived a life of luxury, or it could mean she’s not descended from the royalty that is Leia.

Here are a few other Force-themed tidbits from the Rolling Stone story. To read the whole thing, go here.

Harrison Ford liked Abrams’ dialogue better than George Lucas’ (but he still insisted on tinkering with it). "Nine times out of 10, J.J. was dead-on with it,” Ford told Rolling Stone. You know, it doesn’t feel right in your mouth, and you try a couple of other things, and then you say, ‘You know what? You’re right.’ And 'Chewie, we’re home’“ – an important moment in the story, he notes – "is manifestly better than 'We’re home, Chewie,’ or a couple of the other options that I tried.”

Adam Driver was super Method in his portrayal of Kylo Ren. Not only did he stay in character on set, but he often didn’t take his mask off. “I mean, for me, I follow what Laurence Olivier or someone said: 'Just act,’” said Boyega. “But it was great to see him go for his process. It was intense.”

The movie had a female lead from the very beginning. Producer Kathleen Kennedy pitched the film to Abrams as the story of "a young woman who would ask the question, 'Who is Luke Skywalker?’”

Watch a breakdown of the Japanese trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens.’

For Yahoo Movies’ complete coverage of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens,’ go here.