So, unless your internet is broken, you noticed yesterday evening that Disney released the cast list for Star Wars Episode VII. And it looks like a good one. The original big three are back, and looking pretty good, the newcomers are mostly intriguing and/or anonymous – John Boyega was excellent in Attack the Block, Andy Serkis is Andy Freakin’ Serkis, and this Daisy Ridley person looks like she’d make a nice Organa-Solo kid, which I imagine as a fusion of Jedi badass and smuggler cool…plus, she’s awfully pretty.

Of course, this is all speculation, because other than Hammil, Fisher, Ford (and Mayhew, Daniels, and Bakker), we really have no idea who’s playing who, what the lot is, or anything, especially since they mentioned earlier that the Extended Universe is out. But, it’s lots of fun to speculate about this totally open playing field lying here before us.

Now, I’m a fan of Star Wars, to be sure, but it’s far from my primary expression of fandom. My portfolio is somewhat more diversified. While I’ve seen all the movies many times, and read a handful of the EU stories, I’m far from single-minded or obsessed (I save that aspect of my geekdom for Marvel comics, particularly of the 70s and 80s vintage) on the subject at the expense of all others. Still, it’s hard not to get a little excited about this development; I remember seeing Jedi in the the theaters as a kid, the first time I saw the big reveal in Empire, and all the other touchstones folks of my generation have regarding this movie. I wasn’t particularly enamored with the prequels, but seeing this sort of news still manages to tap my inherent geek optimism – I still really hope this is good.

Finally, I love that they wheeled R2-D2 in so he could be in the photo (and it’s also kind of endearing that they left him in the crate; I don’t know why).