Star Wars: Episode 8: 7 Things We Want From The First Trailer
The force has awakened, so let's see what's next!
If the amount of ridiculously high YouTube views each video brings is anything to go by, the Internet definitely loves itself a Star Wars trailer.
It's not surprising, given that each trailer for The Force Awakens and Rogue One has been exciting, conversation-provoking and nostalgic in equal measure, and based on this evidence, Episode 8's marketing campaign will continue to follow suit.
Sadly, it's a marketing campaign that's been light on details so far, with Disney and Lucasfilm focused heavily on next month's Star Wars release. But on the plus side, this means there's a whole heap of good stuff to come further down the line, and it'll all begin with that first slice of footage.
A release date for the trailer is not yet known, though the safe money's on it debuting sometime in the first quarter of 2017, once Rogue One is safely out of the way.
When we do get it, it's got a lot of expectations to fulfill and a lot of passionate fans to please, which is a big ask for a decades-old franchise, but The Force Awakens proved that the folks in charge know how to craft a satisfying trailer so we've every reason to assume Episode 8 will be equally as successful.
So, from brand-new information and withheld information to fan-favourite characters and all-new ones, here are seven big things we want from the first trailer for Star Wars: Episode 8...
7. Plot Reveals Are Kept Under Wraps
In recent years, trailers appear to have become a lot more spoiler-heavy and a lot less compelling as a result. Using plot reveals and tons of exposition as a lazy way to create a buzz around the film as opposed to, you know, making a damn good trailer, Hollywood's marketing machine just can't seem to keep a lid on the good stuff.
Obviously, films are marketed to the general public and not to the relatively small amount of consumers who wish to stay in the dark, so we can't expect to go in fully blind. But it would be fantastic if the many, many plot reveals Episode 8 could have up its sleeve - Rey's parentage, Snoke's identity (if he's indeed hiding behind the hologram), why Luke's been in hiding for so long, what made Ben Solo rebel and turn to the Dark Side - went fully unexplored until the movie came out.
Over the years we've had Terminator Salvation's marketing stupidly revealing Marcus's robotic nature, Terminator Genisys revealing John is a T-3000, Batman v Superman's Doomsday reveal, The Revenant and The Martian trailers basically showing the whole movie, and countless other cases of a similar nature.
It's just rather annoying.
Fortunately, the one company that seems to know how to handle this issue is Disney. The Force Awakens was capably kept under wraps and we've only been given Rogue One's broad strokes, not small details. Hopefully this will continue with Episode 8, and Disney won't be tempted to unveil one of the many surprises they have on their plate purely for the attention it will bring.