Gwendoline Christie Rumored To Be A Tenacious Officer In 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

The first round of Star Wars casting was a male-centric lineup of talent, with only Carrie Fisher and newcomer Daisy Ridley balancing out the guys. But Star Wars Episode VII has added a few other women to the fold over the past few weeks: Lupita Nyong'o, Christina Chong, Crystal Clarke, and Gwendoline Christie have all signed on.

We don't know much about the roles played by any of the women other than Fisher, but some really interesting new details have emerged about Gwendoline Christie's possible role. We'll keep all the spoilers after the jump, but fans of Christie's Game of Thrones character Brienne of Tarth won't be disappointed. 

Again, possible spoilers ahead for Episode VII, and not only for Christie's character.

So the first big plot reveal for Episode VII said that the movie kicks off with a lightsaber falling into the hands of a struggling character played by John Boyega. If the new information from Badass Digest is correct, Gwendoline Christie comes into the picture as a person who is hunting the guy played by Boyega.

More potential spoilers coming up.

The details get sketchy from there, with the main report being that she's an Imperial officer on the hunt for Boyega after he deserts his post as a Stormtrooper. There are tales that she could be the Chrome Trooper of which there have been rumors, or even that (even more potential spoilers ahead, swipe to read) Christie's character may wield a lightsaber, and could even be a Sith. (End swipe.)

As far as we know, this character was written as a gender-neutral figure, but there's some speculation that Christie now has the role that was once offered to Benedict Cumberbatch. There's also some question about the source of details for this character reveal: are these notes all from the early Michael Arnt draft, or do they carry forward into the current shooting draft? Lots of uncertainty here.

Regardless, this is a very tantalizing development, and an awesome idea. There's no question that Christie could knock action scenes out of the park, and we know she can excel as a tenacious hunter/warrior. If all this is true it's the sort of material that would end up in the first big trailer for the movie, so we'll know more well before Episode VII opens on December 18, 2015.