'Star Wars: Episode VII': Will it feature a female villain?

After months of speculation about which actors would be lucky enough to become part of the cast ofStar Wars: Episode VII, the answer was finally revealed in April by way of a surprise announcement from Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm. Late next year, original stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and more will return to the roles that made them famous over thirty years ago, but they’ll also be joined by a slew of young actors including John Boyega, Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. 

According to reports, Boyega and Ridley will play two of the film’s leads, and the pair were recently spotted filming in a remote desert in Abu Dhabi for scenes set on the sandy planet of Tatooine. Meanwhile, Driver is rumored to be in line to play a villain of sorts – a Jedi who eventually falls to the dark side.

Then there’s also the film’s two new female cast members, who were recently added after reports that casting on the film was not yet complete. Not much is known about Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie’s exact roles, but perhaps these new rumors from Latino-Review can help shed some light on this and a few other questions we have about the plot of Star Wars: Episode VII:

• Though John Boyega isn’t a Jedi at the beginning of ‘Episode VII,’ he has an arc similar to Luke’s in ‘A New Hope.’
• There will be a female villain, probably Sith.
• There is no New Republic at the beginning of the movie.
• We’ll see Boba Fett-esque armor at some point, though probably not on Fett himself.

As the supposed lead of Star Wars: Episode VII, it makes sense that Boyega’s character will begin the movie as essentially a nobody. Casting details that went out late last year described the lead male character as a young man lacking a father figure and a sense of self. No doubt his call to action and hero’s journey in Episode VII will lead him on a quest of transformation, just like how Luke was introduced to audiences and started down the path to become a Jedi in the original Star Wars.

Nyong’o and Christie’s place in the plot, however, is a little fuzzier. There’s been speculation that Nyong’o could be playing the young black or mixed-race granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi. If true, this leaves Christie as the most likely candidate to become the female Sith mentioned above. As a warrior already in HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to see Brienne of Tarth wield a lightsaber instead of a sword.

How do you feel about these new plot and character details for Episode VII? Are you surprised to hear that Luke Skywalker still hasn’t established a New Republic?

Aracell Roach blogs at Screen Rant.