15. The Opening Credits - Star Wars: The Force Awakens
No matter how much speculation precedes the revelation of any actual plot details, or how many supposedly legitimate leaks paint a broad picture of JJ Abrams' Star Wars story, no amount of pre-release excitement will be able to compete with how much excitement greets those ten iconic words. With a gap of decades between the end of Return Of The Jedi and the force awakening, there's a significant number of holes to fill in: what is the state of the Empire without its demonic figureheads? What did Luke do next? Has old age mellowed Han Solo's egotism? And while the latter two will inevitably be dealt with with slow-drip revelations and realisation, the potted history that comes before the equally iconic theme music swell are the first big challenge for Abrams, because they actually matter. They will set expectations: is this going to be another quasi-political