Abrams tight-lipped on Skywalker's absence in Star Wars: The Force Awakens marketing

Racking up 128 million views in its first 24 hours, it's safe to assume the full-length trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakensis well within popular memory. Some fans came away from repeated viewings with one question on their minds: where is the only remaining Jedi in the galaxy, Luke Skywalker?

This question was put to J.J. Abrams by the Sydney Morning Herald during a red carpet event, where the director let down his spoiler-protective guard to let slip a brief comment on Skywalker's lack of presence in the film's marketing campaign. "These are good questions to be asking," he says. "I can't wait for you to find out the answers."

A typically enigmatic response from the tight-lipped director, who goes on to reveal that it's "no accident" Luke has yet to make an appearance in the trailers. While we can't say for sure, Abrams' comment hints at something big for Luke that may be a key plot point in the film. Keeping him under wraps is almost a guarantee that his very presence would be a spoiler in itself.

Abrams wouldn't stray any farther down that line of questioning, but he did open up to the reporter when asked how close they are to completing the movie. "The visual effects process goes on for so long that my guess is that we’ll be doing visual effects for the next three or four weeks, even though the cut will be done before then. We still have another scoring session with John Williams, who is a god when it comes to music. It’s been an ongoing surreal experience and I just cannot wait for the movie to be out in the world."

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in the UK on December 17 and in the US on December 18.