Star Wars Bits: Chris Nolan Helped 'Force Awakens', 'Last Jedi' Is "More Ominous," Kylo Ren's Starship & More

In today's edition of Star Wars Bits, we take a look at how Christopher Nolan played a key role in the making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, find out who won the fan vote to become the new Hasbro Star Wars figure, see video from Rian Johnson's editing session with John Williams, Daisy Ridley says that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is "more ominous," take a first look at Kylo Ren's new starship from The Last Jedi, Christopher Patrick Nolan who played a Rebel Trooper in the Darth Vader sequence from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story reveals some inside information about the making of that sequence, find out which Last Jedi scenes played in full-screen ratio in the IMAX cut of the trailer and more. Hit the jump to hyperspace.

The Los Angeles Times reveals that Christopher Nolan played a key role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

Imax cameras can present unique challenges for directors. Particular lenses are difficult to come by, and directors have gone to extremes to procure them, sometimes retrofitting existing parts. Nolan has been known to mail lenses from his personal collection to fellow directors to use on movies including "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

A Hot Wheels toy version of Kylo Ren's starfighter for Star Wars: The Last Jedi gives us a first look at this new vehicle. It appears to be a modified TIE Interceptor, and MSW previously posted a bit on how this ship may come into play in the story (warning, possible spoilers follow):

Supreme Leader Snoke was let down by Kylo Ren when he failed to stop the "girl." Now he is trying to prove himself. He doesn't wear his helmet as much as he did in the first film from what I've been told. His new TIE has pointed wings like the TIE Interceptor but with a pill-shaped body. The cockpit is sort of like an old B-29 bomber compared to the classic TIE cockpit window. The thrusters in the back remind me of the Falcon as they glow blue and sort of evoke the Falcon. The custom ship was supposedly made to his specifications so he could take down the Resistance and I believe we see Kylo fly from the Mega Destroyer in his new ship.

Doctor Aphra won Hasbro's Star Wars Fan Figure Vote, which means the Star Wars comic book character will be getting her own action figure as part of the new 3.75-inch Star Wars Vintage Collection. Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars Rebels version) was the runner-up, and I have faith she will someday also get a figure. The variant cover to Darth Vader #25 is above just because.

A #MayThe4thBeWithYou message from @RianJohnson for #StarWarsDay. pic.twitter.com/JlnWRZyn4g

— Star Wars (@starwars) May 4, 2017

Last week the world celebrated May The 4th, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson posted the above video message from an editing session with composer John Williams. I love how Rian seems to be in disbelief when he introduces himself as the director of a Star Wars movie.

In an interview with The Star Wars Show while at Celebration Orlando (watch the video above), Daisy Ridley briefly discussed Star Wars: The Last Jedi, claiming that things are "more ominous" when compared to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She didn't expand beyond that, so what that means is anyone's guess right about now.

FutureoftheForce have posted a short interview with Irish-British actor Christopher Patrick Nolan, the only Rebel trooper to survive Darth Vader's massacre in the ending of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

In rehearsal Gareth explained the scene to me, how Vader had no dialogue and how it connected to A New Hope and what he was hoping to achieve. He spoke about the energy and fear he wanted to capture in the scene and how pivotal to the whole Star Wars story this moment was. I referenced the fear of the swimmers in the movie Jaws and Gareth agreed that it was their reactions that helped sell the danger of the shark and that I should use that with Vader. We shot that scene for three days and on the first morning I was given my lines to learn. Gareth liked to use the Steadicam and get me to improvise lines and react instinctively to the action, which was exciting as he thought it brought a realistic urgency to the scene. We filmed lots of different set ups/takes, close-ups and long shots and angles, showing both Vader's POV as well as the Rebels. I remember having to do this stunt fall through the doorway of the Tantive IV, while holding on to the Death Star plans, which was tricky as it had to be timed perfectly to catch Vader slaying the last few rebel troopers before closing the door on him and commanding the ship's "Launch!". It was an intense and thrilling experience and although much didn't make the final edit, I think the fast editing, the score and the hand-held camera work really kept up the momentum and tension and delivered a scene to remember.

Nolan also revealed that his character actually has an in Canon name, Toshma Jefkin. Matt Forbeck, who wrote the 'Rogue One Junior Novel' was given permission by the Lucasfilm Story Group to name a character as a tribute to his good friend Jeff MacKintosh who passed away from cancer last year.

We know some scenes for Star Wars: The Last Jedi were filmed with IMAX cameras and will be presented in full IMAX ratio. Now that the Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer is playing in IMAX theaters, we have some clues as to which scenes will benefit from this full-screen treatment. Head over to starwarsnewsnet.com to learn more.