STAR WARS EPISODE VII Adds Two Female Leads, Fans Breathe Sigh Of Relief

Sometimes wishes do come true. I know, it’s hard to believe with an industry like Hollywood, but today, Star Wars fans caught a huge break. It was officially announced that Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) have joined the cast of Star Wars Episode VII. Like the rest of the new cast members, their roles have not been disclosed, although Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy expressed her excitement at adding these two talents.

I could not be more excited about Lupita and Gwendoline joining the cast of Episode VII. It’s thrilling to see this extraordinarily talented ensemble taking shape.

While Christie’s casting is a complete surprise, Nyong’o was rumored to be joining the cast several months ago. The two will appear alongside John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker.

Props to you, Star Wars production team. You took a step in the right direction. While the Star Wars franchise is enjoyed by all creeds of people, it’s no secret that they’ve been quite the sausage fest. Each trilogy has only had one female lead. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of truly important female Star Wars characters. Diversity has not been the franchise’s strong suit, and when the new cast was announced at the end of April, it seemed this would repeat for the new trilogy.

The first shot of the Star Wars Episode VII cast.

However, that’s changing with Star Wars Episode VII. Okay, it’s still 11 men to four females, but that’s three more females than we’re used to seeing, and these are actresses who are big-time right now. One just received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the other has been playing the game of thrones in Westeros for several years now. They’ll make welcome additions to the movie, and possibly its sequels if they manage to survive this round of intergalactic chaos.

The question now is who they’ll be playing. When Nyong’o was first rumored for the cast, the writer speculated she could be playing a villain. Will we see Nyong’o wielding a crimson blade as a Sith? Or perhaps she’ll be hunting down targets as a bounty hunter. What about Christie? Maybe she’ll be on the side of good and portray a Jedi or soldier in the New Republic. If you have your own speculations, sound off in the comments below.

SOURCE: Star Wars