Star Wars casting: Did fans feel the Force?

Star Wars experts have been analysing the casting announcement for Episode VII. So did the news make them feel the Force or send them to the Dark Side?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, one of the biggest surprises about the announcement of the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII was the lack of surprises.

Who's who in the new Star Wars galaxy

Graeme McMillan wrote that most of the names revealed on Tuesday have been associated with the project for some time.

Original stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill are returning to the franchise alongside relative newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley, both of whom are British.

Other actors confirmed include Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis and Max von Sydow,

Little is known about who they will play in the film, due out in December 2015, but fans have been looking for clues in the official photo released to accompany the announcement (see above).

Brian Truitt, writing for USA Today, noted that director JJ Abrams had gathered "an eclectic group of actors for the franchise's future".

With Ford aged 71, Hamill 62, and Fisher 57 he wondered if Abrams might "send them off in style while also passing the torch to a younger generation of potential icons".

Other stalwarts making a reappearance are Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, as the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca the Wookiee.

But commentators noted an apparent snub for Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in Star Wars Episodes V and VI.

"Only two people have ever blown up a Death Star: Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian. One is in Star Wars Episode VII and, so far, the other is not," observed Slashfilm's Germain Lussier.

"Sure Mark Hamill is about 15 years younger than Billy Dee Williams but Lando finished Return of the Jedi as one of the primary leaders of the rebellion. Odds are, he'd still be around 20-30 years later. Not seeing his name alongside the rest of the original cast was a huge surprise but that doesn't mean he doesn't play some small role."

The Hollywood Reporter analysis noted that the new production follows the original trilogy's lead when it comes to lack of diversity.

"All but one of the new cast are white, and all but one are male, matching the demographics of the original trilogy a little bit too closely for comfort for contemporary tastes."

It's a theme echoed by Scott Mendelson at Forbes in an article headlined The New 'Star Wars' Cast: Mostly White Guys.

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill became household names in the 1970s

"After teasing us for months over the notion that the new Star Wars film would go against the grain in terms of casting, we still ended up with a bunch of white males with a couple of token women and a couple of actors of colour," he said.

"Abrams and company had a chance to do with Star Wars what Gene Roddenberry did for Star Trek 50 years ago, filling his main cast with actors from a variety of nationalities to showcase the melting pot that is our planet."

He found it ironic that a series so influenced by Japanese samurai mythology has "basically no Japanese or Asian actors".

"We may well see a first film where John Boyega and Oscar Isaac are the co-leads among the newbies, or a situation where Daisy Ridley is the primary heroic figure.

"But the more likely scenario is one where the white males are the main heroes, the actors of colour are the sidekicks, and the lone female is the girlfriend to one of the main heroes. If I end up wrong on that score, you'll hear it here first and I will happily scream to the heavens that I was wrong."

"Hey Star Wars - Where the Hell Are the Women?" asked Annalee Newitz on io9.com.

"There is only one new female character being added to what is arguably the world's most beloved mythic series. It's as if 51 percent of the population cried out in pain, and was suddenly silenced," she wrote, echoing a line from Obi-Wan Kenobi when he senses the destruction of the planet Alderaan.

"Having Ridley is great, but one new female lead in a cast of men? That's how we launch ourselves into the future of this series, which inspires little girls with pink swords, as well as old girls like myself who graduated to sharper weapons long ago?

"Are we seriously still pretending that the universe is comprised almost entirely of men (and mostly white men at that)? Mythic tales are supposed to open up possibilities, not shut them down."

With filming about to start, and some 20 months to go before release date, Star Wars fans can expect more official announcements - and a whole galaxy of speculation.