8 Things J.J. Abrams Doesn’t Want You To Know About Star Wars: The Force Awakens

3. BB-8 Plays A Large Role (And Meets Luke)

Isn't BB-8 adorable. A cutesy astromech head on a rolling ball, he's a startlingly new design for the Star Wars galaxy and will no doubt be one of the most popular toys of Christmas 2015. Oh, and because Star Wars, against George Lucas' wishes, is just a merchandising empire, he's going to be pretty important in the movie too. This should've been somewhat obvious from the structure of the trailer - every sequence (Finn on the run, Rey on her speeder, Poe Dameron in his X-Wing, Kylo Ren igniting his lightsaber) was introducing a key new character - but as he doesn't require an actor it wasn't certain. Don't worry though - Mark Hamill has inadvertently confirmed it. In the aftermath of the trailer, whether BB-8 was a practical effect or CGI was a key point of discussion (although not quite up there with the crossguard lightsaber); it looked incredibly photo-real, but how could something so utterly sci-fi ever be made in real life? In an interview shortly after the release of the 88 seconds of footage, Mark Hamill confirmed it was an actual machine, delighting in the fact he got to have a play with it. But in doing so, Hamill revealed Luke has some interaction with the droid. Whoops.