This trailer has a little more to it. Plus we get the briefest glimpse of Darth Vader. I think it will be interesting to see how they explain just how quickly the Empire was able to complete galactic control. I mean, think about it for a second (and do not try to give me stuff from the books and whatnot, since that stuff no longer counts). Palpatine declares himself Emperor and starts flying banners and changing symbols on things. What does that really mean for the average planet out there? At this point the Senate is still around, so they think they have some representation. Also, consider that by the time we get to Luke Skywalker (how old is he in the first movie? 18, 19 years old?), the Empire has control enough that people “have no love for the Empire.”
It is hard to really fathom, when you consider that the Empire grew out of the Old Republic. Palpatine’s machinations just helped him convert the already established Republic into an Empire. So basically, I look forward to learning about what policies he enacted that drove people to fear and hate the Empire. Remember, we saw the destruction of the Jedi, but to the average moisture farmer on Tatooine, the Jedi were some mystical, far-out, religious sect. Palpatine was probably able to spin it as they were trying to seize control of the Senate (actually, isn’t that what he does in the third movie?).
I remember from one of the books (I know, I said not to bring that shit up) that the story of Han Solo and Chewbacca was that Han rescued Chewie from slavers. The Emperor had a very xenophobic policy of allowing non-humans to be taken as slaves. I wonder if that will be something that is kept? If you watch the series Rebels, does the show deal with some of the buildup of how the Empire secured it’s power and cemented that fear/hatred within a short amount of time? Did they jack taxes up to like 99% or something? Or maybe the other way, they cut important social programs and allowed the market to reign supreme. See, every conversation nowadays turns into a political debate…even with myself.
