In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which serves as a large preview of the films ahead of us for the rest of the year, there is predictably a large section dedicated to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The centerpiece of their spread on the film is an interview with J.J. Abrams that delves further into the film than anything else before. Abrams naturally goes on once again about being approached to do the film, what it was like to work with franchise veteran Lawrence Kasdan, what it was like to be on set when Harrison Ford officially reprised the role of Han Solo for the first time in 30+ years, etc. The usual stuff, albeit a bit more candid than in past interviews and statements.
The real meat of the interview, however, was Abrams’ discussion of the characters, their creation, their motivations, and…most importantly in this case…their names. This was the interview that revealed that the “Ren” portion of villain Kylo Ren’s (Adam Driver) name is a title, not a last name. This particular detail was teased out earlier this week, with an emphasis on Kylo’s full name (as well as the full names of Rey and Finn) being left a mystery on purpose at this time. Other new characters are named after a combination of things. For instance, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is a combination of Abrams’ daughter’s pet and his assistant’s last name. Cute, but not overly important, especially to genre fans.
What is important to the horror-oriented armies of the world? When a character’s name is inspired by our genre…
“How about other members of the dark side: Captain Phasma and General Hux?
J.J. Abrams: Larry [Kasdan] and I would walk all over the place when we were breaking the story, and we would record our conversations. We were walking through a cemetery that was near the Bad Robot offices, and we would often glance at names [on the tombstones] to see if any of them stuck. I don’t believe that Hux came from there, but it may have. Phasma I named because of the amazing chrome design from Michael Kaplan’s wardrobe team. It reminded me of the ball in Phantasm.”
Is this an Alderaan-shattering revelation? No. Is it important to the legacy of Star Wars? No. It did, however, make this fan (or should I say phan?) smile upon reading it. The horror genre rarely gets shown respect, let alone admiration, on a large scale by most filmmakers and large productions. A supporting character in a massive blockbuster sequel to one of the largest franchises in history getting named after a cult horror series might not mean much to most, but it means something to us. It doesn’t mean that the film will be wonderful or that the character of Captain Phasma will be worthy of such inspiration (though with Gwendoline Christie in the role, she likely will be).
Still, it’s a fun little nugget of trivia for this horror fan and one well worth sharing to the lot of you. Besides, it’s always nice to see Phantasm get a little love from the mainstream. That goes double, given that it comes via Star Wars. The original 1977 film was definitely a major influence Don Coscarelli’s signature franchise, so the favor being returned decades later is oddly fitting. Time is a flat circle.
