The "Star Wars: Episode VII" trailer premiered Friday online and in theaters.
The film will star newcomers John Boyega and Daisy Ridley while reuniting original cast members Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford.
While we didn't see any of them in the trailer teaser, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas was thinking about Episode VII and beyond back when the original trilogy debuted in the 1970s.
After the trailer launch, Reddit user Dessel posted an interview clip of Mark Hamill from 1983 discussing a potential "Episode VII" that wouldn't be filmed for about three decades.
Lucas "at one time said, 'Would you consider playing an Obi Wan-type character handing Excalibur down to the next generation?'" Hamill said.
Hamill wondered when that sequel would take place.
"At the time he [Lucas] said, 'Oh, around 2011,'" Hamill said.
With "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" set for a 2015 theatrical release, Lucas wasn't that far off.
Watch the clip below.
According to a Time magazine article from March 1978, Lucas originally had plans for up to 12 "Star Wars" films.
Over the years, that number changed. In 1983, Lucas hinted to Time not only about the prequel series that eventually came to be, but also a third trilogy that wouldn't happen until after the '90s.
Via Time's May 23, 1983 issue:
If he does carry the story any further, he will probably go back to the beginning, before these characters were born, and make what he calls a 'prequel,' another trilogy that would explain how the Republic fell. Only after that — and certainly not before the 1990s — would he do the sequel and show what happens to the Star Wars trio after Jedi.
When Disney purchased Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2012 for $4 billion, the Mouse House received Lucas' treatments for the next three "Star Wars" movies.
We don't know anything about the plot yet for "Episode VII," but we could easily see Hamill play an older Jedi similar to Alec Guinness in the original trilogy.
SEE ALSO: Watch The Episode VII Trailer
AND: An Explanation Of The 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Trailer
