Adam Driver: A STAR WARS Villain For A New Generation

With production on Star Wars: Episode VII scheduled to begin in April, it seems inevitable that official casting announcements will begin any moment now. Jumping the gun, Variety says that Adam Driver is "close" to signing a deal to become the villain.

Driver's chief claim to fame has been his role in Lena Dunham's HBO series Girls; he plays her layabout boyfriend. From watching only three episodes of the series, my only impression is that his character is annoying and insufferable. Does that make him suitable for a galactiic villain? Maybe. He also had a small part in the Coen Brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, as the cowboy hat-wearing folk singer Al Cody.

Until Disney confirms, we'll mark this as a rumor, but if this proves to be true, it will send a clear signal that J.J. Abrams is indeed making Star Wars for a new generation.