SPECULATION: Episode VII Black X-Wing… a Stealth Fighter?
With the release of multiple aerial shots of the Star Wars: Episode 7 location set at Greenham Common, one of the more tantalizing images has certainly been that of what appears to be a black X-wing. Is it possible, though, that we’ve already seen a predecessor to this new starfighter?
Filming for Episode 7 at the former RAF base at Greenham Common seems to center around a group of bunker-like shelters that were once used to house cruise missiles, now apparently doubling as underground starfighter hangars. Photos taken this past week from an aerial drone showed some fascinating details, including a full-sized Millennium Falcon exterior (well, half of the Falcon, anyway!) and what looks like the blue and white X-wing previously shown in JJ Abrams’ “Force for Change” update video this past July.
Sharp-eyed fans also noticed a black X-wing that appears to have orange or red markings on its wings.
The more I thought about it, the more I’d realized that this black X-wing looked mighty familiar. It’s one of the new Episode 7 style X-wings, of course, but the black paint job reminded me of something. Then I realized, it was the Dark Horse Star Wars series from the past couple of years that I was thinking of. One of the early storylines in that series had the Rebels assembling a “stealth squadron” that flew black/dark grey X-wings.
In addition to the image of the dark-colored X-wing from the Dark Horse comic itself, I was also able to find photos of an excellent repaint job on a pair of Fantasy Flight miniatures, inspired by the Dark Horse “stealth squadron” design, courtesy of Fantasy Flight forum member WizzBif:
Though this fan-made interpretation of the Stealth Squadron X-wings from the Dark Horse comics was done more than six months ago, it certainly does bear some resemblance to the black X-wing from the new Episode 7 set photos.
A similar concept also found its way into the New Jedi Order novels in the form of the StealthX, an X-wing variant that featured a matte black finish flecked with white, designed primarily for use by Jedi pilots (as any use of the comm system would defeat the starfighter’s stealth features.)
Might JJ and company have borrowed the stealth-fighter concept from the Dark Horse series and the New Jedi Order novels (bearing in mind, of course, that neither is canon), and that’s what we’re seeing in these Greenham Common photos?
There’s also a second possibility.
About a month ago, Latino Review reported on the recently released photos of new Episode 7 stormtrooper helmets. Included in this report was mention of stormtroopers with black and chrome armor, which LR went on to say is rumored to contain an individual cloaking device that renders the wearer invisible.
Hurling grains of salt hither and yon in the interest of covering my own backside, let’s just suppose for the sake of argument that this rumor is true, and we will see black and chrome armored “stealthtroopers” in Episode 7. Look again at the black X-wing photo.
Black… with chrome trim on the engine pods, the wingtip cannons, and possibly the canopy.
Could there be a connection between this X-wing and the rumored black-and-chrome stormtroopers? Might this fighter be flown by one of these “stealth troopers”? Or could the chrome-trimmed black coloration perhaps be a key part of the cloaking technology itself, with the Republic having used it on X-wings, and the Empire having applied it to their stormtrooper armor?
Regardless of whether or not any of these bits of speculation end up coming close to the mark, at the very least we have an incredibly sharp-looking X-wing variant to look forward to seeing in action in Episode 7!
Cloaking device: new studies revealed that black color is less distuingishable from black background. This advantage will totally changethe odds of war
I think it’s moreso that a Jedi could pilot one at radio silence using the Force to navigate. Anybody else, as mentioned in the article, would need to use their comm equipment, which would defeat the purpose of having a black-painted starfighter, so there would be no point.
That being said, you’re right in that it seems like an awfully obvious “discovery”. 🙂
Those same studies also revealed though that black starfighters against black backgrounds also have higher odds of other starfighters colliding with them.
The study therefore concluded that either you should only paint it black if a) the fighter must be able to approach it’s target unnoticed b) if your starfighters are cheaper than your enemies starfighters and you have access to more pilots c) your pilots are exceptionally skilled at situational awareness d) it’s just gotta look cool at an air/space show
black spaceship against the black backdrop of space does not look very good, artistically. But don’t let this fact get in the way of Disney’s plan to please every fanboy on Earth.
Oh could it be as per deleted cannon these are Jedi Stelth X-wing fighters equipped with cloaking deviceblackso the cloakingis more efficient causing them to disappear from censors and visual targeting….Hmm kill the cannon rape it for your own needs when it suits you! kind of like using Mara Jades name to further your shows…..if your killing the cannon create your own!dont pick and choose what you feel worked and what did not… Miller so far has given us crap I mean Kenobi was a decent story but remove ben add any cowboy the story still works..
You know what i always found curious was the line Captain Needa says in Empire about the Millennium Falcon being to small to have a cloaking device. To me it implied that there were ships out there that could cloak if they wanted to they were just bigger then the Falcon. An X wing is smaller… but 30+ years have passed… so not quite sure where I was going with that just an observation I guess. As long as it makes sense to the story they are telling than its cool with me.
There were cloaking ships in the Clone Wars cartoon.
Sadly I have only seen several eps of the Clone Wars and must have missed it. My bad. Still I think it might be cool to have stealth X-wings or ships with cloaking devices.
Really hope some of the troopers are black and chrome – thought the leaked helmet looked cool but imagine how good it would`ve looked in black;you could even have chrome stormtroopers with a black lining.
Like Cylons!
No ship that small has a cloaking device!
Well, if stormtroopers pilot the x-wings, that means they are republic soldiers, not empire…
Agreed, with Solo leading them as we saw in leaked clothes.
But, fighting who?
No ship in Star Wars has a cloaking device !! If they had to be bigger than the Falcon then why haven’t the Star Destroyers got them, then they would never have been detected approaching Hoth !?
No ship in Star Wars has a cloaking device … yet.
Why didn’t Star Destroyers have it in EP V? Could be hundreds of reasons. Maybe it was still experimental at the time.
Actually, in The Clone Wars there is a ship with cloaking device. It appears in the second season, episode 16: “Cat and Mouse”.
The republic had a cloak-capable ship during the clone wars, Anakin used it to take apart the flagship of famous separatist Admiral Trench. Rumour has it that Darth Mauls ship also had a cloak…
Ships in the Clone Wars cartoon had cloaking devices.
for a reason it is a “cartoon” don’t take everything serious on the clone wars.
But didn’t Obi-Wan make himself ‘invisible’ to others in A New Hope using the force.
Cloaked/Stealth Troopers that can only be detected using the Force. So basically only Force-users would be able to effectively combat them.
It’s John Begoya’s xwing obviously. You guys are noobs
Obvi ;)=
Obvi wan kenobi?
;p
First thing that came to mind upon seeing the black Xwing was the ‘Rogue 2’ paint scheme snowspeeder from the Star Wars Action Fleet collection.
So I take it that no one has noticed that black x-wing has five points on its wings like Luke Skywalker’s?
hmm I hope its the Stealth-X
DarkTroopers? like on battlefront II
http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111019133600/battlefront/images/b/bf/Darktrooper.PNG
I have said it many times & I will say it again: “I think this will be the best star wars movie yet!!! (& that opens up for even greater adventures in ep.8/9)
All leaks so far looks so cool & incredible I just can’t wait 🙂 & this black x-wing is just the icing on the cake,…
When people ask me what my favorite movie is I first tell them that it is impossible to just pick one. However if i have to pick just one “The Empire Strikes Back” is usually the answer I give. Empire is a tough episode to dethrone from being the best, but if any episode stands a chance of becoming the best of the saga i have high hope Ep VII will do it simply because of all the nostalgic elements it has going for it plus all the new elements and characters. Though Ep VIII and IX may just surprise us in the end.
Or maybe VIII or IX. Just like IV helped make V the great film that it is, maybe VII will elevate the others.
@SKYWATER
You are welcome to like it, I guess, especially if you are into more of the same.
I have said too.
Kasdan, ships, early OT concepts, old fashioned clothes, real and beautiful locations,….
I’m really really excited
Since I’m only into the SW films, and not the novels, comics, videogames, toys, etc. these days, I didn’t know anything about these stealthy, black X-wings. Sounds like a good idea to me, though.
Nice find, Dekka. Keep ’em coming!
PLZ no stealth… this is Star WARS not TREK. haha. I know there’s that rumor with stealth storm troopers… I’d be down with that but cloaked ships would make these epic space battles sorta weird to watch.
next, JJ Abrams is going to introduce time travel, which we’ve all feared.
HAH! Thankfully I think not. Mayybe flashbacks but I’d almost hate that more.
Nice guess. They are using elements from the EU after all even though the history is obsolete.
Dave Filoni and others have said on a number of occasions that the EU is still fertile ground for ideas and designs – something like a stealth X wing would be a perfect example of a good idea that sprang up from the EU – hopefully there are many more to come.
“No ship that small has a cloaking device!”
X-wings like the OT, costumes like the OT, plotline (rumored to be) like the OT.
They should call this movie Star Wars IV: The Special Edition.
episode V had x-wings like OT, costumes like ot, plotline like ot, but that’s called a sequel, plus ep VII has leaked no concept art of a death star so it’s not the same movie. Maybe they’re just trying to make a REAL star wars sequel.
Anon 18:01, I completely agree. IMHO, it would be a mistake for them to go overboard reinventing the wheel in Episode 7 just for the sake of novelty. Star Wars has a very distinctive look about it, which I think Lucas often tended to get away from in the PT. Maintaining the look of the OT films isn’t “catering to fanboys” or whatever the objection du jour may be – it’s just how you make a solid sequel to an established film or film series.
The new style X-wings still resemble the X-wings from 30 years ago, only with some minor changes. If you look at our own world as it appeared 30 years ago compared to how it looks today, things don’t look radically different. We have some new technology, and styles have changed slightly. But we’re not suddenly flying around in hovercars and jetpacks the way some assumed that we would be by now.
As a Star Wars sequel, Episode 7 does need to look like the OT. We’ll see plenty of new stuff, I’m sure, as well as plenty of new variations on familiar technology. But I agree with you that designing everything to look different just for the sake of making it look new and different from the OT would make little sense.
Yeah.
There are a lot of things that can look very different over the decades, like car designs, phones, video games, TV sets and computers. However, I don’t want Star Wars to reflect this radical change with the new films.
So many of us love that classic OT look. While we’re open to spiritual successors with various technological designs and functions, we want the overall look to remain the same.
What Lucas did with the Prequels’s overall look was bold but alienating.
it’s Adam Driver’s… Hence the photo of him in an X-wing outfit.
Shouldn’t the question be: Why is there a need for a stealth fighter in the story line? *queue plot twist*
chase/dogfight sequence with against a stealth fighter? maybe a little gimmicky but could be cool. Bad##s character who could show up at any time or place without detection or warning? Me Like. ditto,
*cue plot twist*
**queue is a like a line at a cashier’s desk- cue is a signal of entry as in a stage-cue**
Maybe the black troopers fly black xwings and some how shield themselves from being detected by Jedi / Sith or having the force used against them…. Ysalimir style!
JJ said he wanted to return to the OT – I take it he meant in style, look, atmosphere, characterization and storyline. Brilliant! That’s what the majority of fans/moviegoers want. And from what we’ve seen so far, that’s what he seems to be doing.
The black X-Wing has about as much significance as the gold R2 unit in ROTS. It’s purely background stuff.
I am pretty sure the black xwing is Luke’s fighter.
1. Take a look at the markings on the wing. Clearly denoting it as “red 5″. Luke’s ship had 5 red marks on it in OT.
2. It has a unique paint scheme denoting it as some sort of major character’s ship. it is amongst a lot of other “regular” xwings with what looks like a common paint scheme (blue squadron?)
3. It is with the millennium falcon… Highly probable that is is a “hero/good guy ship”. Falcon is Han ship…xwing is Luke’s ship.