

One of the crappier robots from the original Star Wars trilogy is the GNK power droid, known more colloquially as the “Gonk Droid.” Why? Because that’s what he says: “gonk.” It’s basically a little garbage can with legs, and it sucks. But despite its utter lameness, and the fact that the filmmakers are more than capable of improving on its terrible design, the Gonk Droid shows up a couple of times throughout The Force Awakens. The droid has no bearing on the narrative whatsoever, so it’s hard not to interpret its presence here as director J.J. Abrams’ way of telling fans that he gets what they love about Star Wars, gonks and all.


If you know what the “Wilhelm Scream” is, then congratulations: you are a true film nerd. For the rest of you, however, here’s a quick primer. First recorded in 1951, and made famous by a character named Private Wilhelm in the 1953 film The Charge at Feather River, the Wilhelm Scream has been inserted into every single Star Wars film, not to mention about 200 others. If you keep your ears sharp during Finn and Poe’s escape from the First Order hangar bay, an anonymous (and unlucky) Stormtrooper belts the scream out after being killed by a turbolaser.




This is by far one of the biggest easter eggs in all of The Force Awakens, and true fans spotted its significance right away. The film’s villains, the First Order, have taken a page from the playbook of the Empire, and built themselves a gigantic super-weapon capable of destroying entire systems, suns and all. It’s not the size of a moon—rather, it’s the size of an entire planet. But instead of calling it the Death Star, or the Death World, or the Super Space Gun (our choice), it’s called…the Starkiller Base. And what’s so important about the name “Starkiller”? It’s the original surname that George Lucas had intended to give his protagonist—before he decided on “Skywalker.” While replicating the Death Star, but bigger, isn’t necessarily the most inspired move in the galaxy, you gotta give props to Abrams and company for picking such a perfect name.